LAS VEGAS — A former Las Vegas pet shop owner who was caught on surveillance video torching her business before 27 puppies and dogs were rescued last year failed to sway her sentencing judge with a courtroom announcement Wednesday that she was three months pregnant.
Clark County District Court Judge David Barker said he thought Gloria Eun Hye Lee, 36, was using her pregnancy to try to get him to hand down a lesser sentence.
He sentenced Lee to five to 14 years in state prison — nearly the maximum that prosecutor Shanon Clowers sought.
Clowers accused Lee of using her pregnancy in a manipulative bid for a “get-out-of-jail-free card.”
Lee’s attorney, Tom Pitaro, didn’t immediately respond later to messages.