Women (26) deported by ICE fined for stealing ham and cosmetics

Olivia Kelleher

A 26-year-old woman who was deported from the US to Ireland, where she faced two historic shoplifting charges for stealing ham worth €80 and €264 worth of cosmetics, has paid compensation and received a small fine.

Ciocolata Munteanu, with an address at Orchard Court, Blackpool, Cork city, was arrested last month on her arrival at Dublin Airport.

She had been deported by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Garda Pat Costello previously told Cork District Court that Munteanu was deported from Los Angeles to Dublin on March 24th, having lived in the US for five years with her family.

Her outstanding theft charges arose in late 2018 and early 2019 when Munteanu stole two joints of ham from a store and cosmetics from a branch of Boots in Blackpool, Cork city.

Munteanu pleaded guilty to the thefts at Cork District Court a day after she arrived back in Ireland on a deportation flight.

Defence solicitor, Dennis Healy, said that ICE had confiscated a car driven by his client as well as her savings of $20,000. They left her with just $200.

He said that the shoplifting dated back to when Munteanu was a teenager living in Cork with her family.

Judge Mary Dorgan had declined to finalise the case at a previous sitting of Cork District Court as she said that the accused was smiling and chewing gum as her solicitor was speaking on her behalf.

The Judge said that the young woman was not showing sufficient respect to the court.

Last week, the case had to be adjourned again because the defence solicitor was unable to attend court.

Solicitor Diarmuid Kelleher said that he had just been contacted by Healy, who had asked him to stand in for him in court. However, he said that he didn’t have the full details of the case.

Munteanu complained that she had been in court on three separate occasions.

She said that she had pleaded guilty and paid the full compensation of €380.

However, Judge Dorgan said that the accused had been “out of the jurisdiction for years” and was “landing back now.”

The case was finalised on Thursday afternoon with the imposition of a €200 fine. Munteanu was fined €100 for each theft.