A woman with a lengthy record of misdemeanor and felony convictions won’t get any more chances after posing as a paralegal in order to steal money from a victim who’d lost his wife.

The state charged Christy Nichols, 35, with three felony counts of stealing $5,859 from Harold Moore in a scheme that included another defendant who stole about $65,000 from the same victim. Ervin Nolan Jr., 47, was sentenced to five years in prison in September.

“I learned you don’t conduct business in a parking lot,” Mr. Moore told the court Monday. “I learned my lesson.”

A tearful defendant told the court she was sorry for what she’d done and wanted to turn her life around, get a job and begin making restitution.

“That’s what they all say,” Mr. Moore said.

Buchanan County Circuit Judge Patrick Robb told the defendant “none of that’s going to happen.”

With five prior felony convictions and five prior misdemeanor convictions, the court can’t accept the defendant’s alleged remorse as sincere, Mr. Robb said.

“You’re not a good candidate for probation,” the judge said.

Ms. Nichols received a five-year prison sentence and was taken in handcuffs and tears back to the Buchanan County Jail.

Marshall White can be reached at marshall.white@newspressnow.com.