The sentence handed down to a 64-year-old bookkeeper convicted of stealing massive amounts of money from her former employer over the course of seven years was far less than what the victim in the case wanted.

During an almost hourlong hearing Friday in Routt County District Court, the victim laid into Martha “Suzi” Hawkins as Hawkins’ former employer challenged Hawkins’ faith in God, likened her to pedophiles who groom their victims and asked Judge Stephen Groome to render a sentence of 12 years incarceration.

The former employer also asked the judge to make Hawkins repay what she stole, which according to prosecutors was more than $790,000 from January 2015 to April 2022.

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“I was targeted by someone whom I considered a close friend, ally and confidant,” the victim told the courtroom. “It was very personal and it was devastating.”

The victim owns a ranch in Routt County. Hawkins, a Steamboat Springs real estate agent and bookkeeper, was convicted of theft and computer crime, both Class 3 felonies, after a four-day jury trial in March.

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Hawkins was facing up to 12 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections for each conviction, but the judge’s decision landed in line with the recommended sentence produced by the Probation Department, as Groome gave Hawkins a suspended sentence of 90 days in Routt County Jail.

The judge also ordered Hawkins to pay restitution in an amount that has yet to be determined while opting not to impose any additional fines beyond restitution.

During the hearing, the ranch owner said that while Hawkins “proclaims to all that she is a devout Christian and her life revolves around her church … it is her cloak of deceit and manipulation — the facade she maintains for all.”

Furthermore, the ranch owner said Hawkins targets her victims by promising to help them in anyway she can and by working her way into their inner circles so she can manipulate the people closest to them. According to the ranch owner, when Hawkins’ crimes finally started coming to light, the ranch owner’s banker and accountant couldn’t believe Hawkins had been stealing from her because of how highly Hawkins spoke of the owner and her children.

“She truly had groomed the financial people in my life,” the ranch owner said as she claimed Hawkins has stolen from others and has a “pattern of preying on people.”

At the same time, the prosecution described Hawkins’ theft as a complex system of moving money around through multiple accounts — some controlled by the ranch owner and others by Hawkins — with varying amounts and falsified records helping hide Hawkins’ fraudulent transactions.

Perhaps one of the most pointed comments of Friday’s hearing came with the way the ranch owner described how Hawkins repeatedly over-billed her for hours worked.

“I was literally paying for her time to implement her crimes against me,” the owner said while adding Hawkins is an “accomplished pathological liar desperate to sell herself and her side of the story.”

The ranch owner’s spouse and former spouse both testified for the prosecution during Hawkins’ sentencing. They spoke about how devastating it was for the ranch owner that Hawkins, whom the owner had considered a friend, blatantly and repeatedly violated her trust for years.

“In essence, her good friend stabbed her in the back,” the owner’s spouse told the court.

He too claimed Hawkins has stolen much more than what was pinpointed in the investigation, and he also alleged that Hawkins’ crimes span multiple victims that predate the ranch owner. The ranch owner’s ex-husband offered similar remarks as well, saying that he too was a victim of Hawkins’ schemes.

Defense attorney Sean Brown objected to this testimony, arguing that the court should not consider any allegations for which Hawkins has not been convicted. The judge allowed the witnesses to continue speaking, but Groome instructed the court he could only take evidence offered at trial into consideration.

Addressing the judge, the 14th Judicial District Attorney’s Office requested Groome render a sentence that would have Hawkins serve seven to nine years in prison, while Brown asked the court to adhere to probation’s recommended suspended sentence of 90 days in jail.

For Brown, it was important for the court to take into account that Hawkins will be 70 years old when she gets off probation. Furthermore, she has no criminal history and, because of the nature of her crimes, Brown said the Probation Department will be closely monitoring Hawkins’ finances and future employment, so she will not be in a position to victimize other people while on probation.

“We were pleased that (the judge) understood our position,” Brown said while explaining that Hawkins will not have to serve any jail time if she does well on probation.

As for what’s next for Hawkins, Brown said, “she has plans to do some volunteer work and actually started that (Friday) morning before the hearing.”

The case is not quite settled yet, though.

During the hearing, prosecutors said Hawkins stole more than $790,000 from her former employer and asked the judge to set restitution at that amount.

However, Brown disputed the prosecution’s figure, saying the jury convicted Hawkins of theft of $100,000 to $1 million but did not indicate any specific figure within that range.

Because the actual amount Hawkins stole from her former employer remains in dispute, the judge scheduled a restitution hearing for July 15. The hearing could be negated if the defense and prosecution can agree upon a figure before then, though the two sides appear to be pretty far apart.

Speaking over the phone Friday night, the ranch owner expressed deep frustration over the judge’s decision and said she does not feel like justice has been served. Instead, she feels like he ignored the jury’s verdict and gave Hawkins the bare minimum sentence she could have received.

The prosecution’s trial team was lead by Deputy District Attorney Joseph Bucci and Colorado Department of Revenue Agent Greg Gessford.