A serial shoplifter has been sentenced after stealing $427 worth of merchandise and fleeing from a Walmart in The Villages.
Violet Rose Gardner, 59, of Lady Lake, pleaded no contest this past week in Sumter County Court to a felony charge of theft. She has been placed on probation for three years and ordered to perform 80 hours of community service. She was also ordered to serve 20 days in jail with credit for 20 days already served.
She was riding in a motorized shopping cart on Oct. 14 when a loss prevention officer saw her stuffing merchandise into reusable shopping bags at the store at Buffalo Ridge Plaza, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office…