By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

COLUMBIANA – The Shelby County District Attorney’s Office will seek a harsher-than-normal punishment in its prosecution of a 45-year-old Alabaster woman who is facing charges alleging she embezzled more than $300,000 from her Alabaster employer.

The Alabaster Police Department arrested Rebecca Ann Norton on Aug. 14 and charged her with one felony count of first-degree theft of property and three felony counts of second-degree possession of a forged instrument.

According to her arrest warrants, Norton allegedly stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from an Alabaster-based company between August 2013 and August of this year.

In a document filed in Shelby County District Court on Sept. 9, the District Attorney’s Office notified the court it has “intent to present the evidence of aggravating factors for the purpose of seeking an upward departure from the presumptive sentencing guidelines” in the case.

Alabama’s presumptive sentencing guidelines often determine prison time for those convicted of nonviolent felony offenses, and are used as a blueprint for judges when sentencing those individuals.

According to the Alabama Sentencing Commission, a person sentenced under the presumptive guidelines on a first-degree theft of property charge could receive between 14 and 46 months in prison if convicted, and could have the sentence split between six and nine months in prison followed by supervised probation.

The District Attorney’s Office said it will seek a higher sentence because “the offense involved an attempted or actual taking or receipt of property of great monetary value, or damage causing great monetary loss to the victim.”

Norton is scheduled to appear in District Court in Columbiana on Oct. 28 for a preliminary hearing, according to court documents.