The Inter-Mountain photo by Taylor McKinnie Mikela Marie Mitchell standing before the Randolph County Circuit Court at the beginning of her sentencing hearing Wednesday.

ELKINS — An Upshur County woman, who is facing felony charges in three local counties after reportedly stealing from clients of a cleaning service, was sentenced in Randolph County Circuit Court to seven years of supervised probation to ensure restitution is paid to the victims.

Mikela Marie Mitchell, 41, was sentenced Wednesday by Judge Jaymie Godwin Wilfong to one to 10 years in the state penitentiary, suspended for seven years of supervised probation. A condition of Mitchell’s supervised probation is that she must pay restitution to the victims, the amount of which will be determined by the Randolph County Probation Office.

On Jan. 5, Mitchell pleaded guilty to one count of grand larceny, a felony. As part of the plea agreement, Mitchell will have to pay restitution to the victims as though she had been convicted on all counts of her initial indictment. She was initially indicted by a Randolph County Grand Jury on two counts of grand larceny in October.

Mitchell was arrested after the Philippi detachment of the West Virginia State Police received several reports of stolen jewelry from homes that had all been recently cleaned by Integrity Cleaning LLC in Buckhannon. Several houses in Randolph, Upshur and Barbour counties were identified as having had jewelry stolen. Mitchell, who worked for the company, told officers that she had taken items from the homes she cleaned and sold them to the Gold Rush establishment in Bridgeport where the jewelry was melted down.

Two victims were identified in Randolph County, with one of the victims estimating the total value of her stolen jewelry was $15,492, and the other victim estimating that her stolen jewelry was worth an estimated total of $4,125.

During the sentencing hearing, Mitchell was represented by attorney Morris Davis, and the state was represented by Randolph County Assistant Prosecutor Colin Henning.

Davis addressed the court before the sentencing, stating that Mitchell stole and sold items to “alleviate some of her financial pressure.” Davis asked Wilfong to sentence Mitchell to supervised probation, stating the court did not have the means to compel Mitchell to pay the restitution to the victims unless it was made a condition of supervised probation.

Mitchell also addressed the court, stating she has thought about the wrong she did every day during her 11 months in jail and that she has missed so much of her daughter’s life because of her own actions.

“I just want to prove that I can be a good citizen and abide by the laws,” Mitchell said. “I plan on paying the restitution back. I just feel horrible. I think about it every day and it just eats me up.”

When asked by Wilfong if she thought there was a way she could “make the victims whole,” Mitchell said that while she plans to pay the entire restitution to the victims, she knows it will not “make them whole” as they can never get their jewelry back.

Before the sentence was given, Henning told the court that what really jumps out in this case is the huge amount of restitution due to the victims. He also said that he was inclined to agree with Davis that supervised probation was the only method the court has to ensure that restitution is paid, so the state recommended that sentence for Mitchell.

One of Mitchell’s two Randolph County victims was present in the courtroom during Wednesday’s hearing, but the victim elected to not address the court.

Wilfong agreed with Henning and Davis that probation was the only mechanism where she or her officers could supervise the completion of the restitution payments.

Before the sentence was given, Henning informed the court that Mitchell was set to be sentenced in Upshur County on April 6, and that he was under the impression that Upshur County and Barbour County were waiting to see how Randolph County would sentence Mitchell.

In Upshur County, Mitchell was initially indicted for two counts of embezzlement, a felony. She was also separately indicted for 10 counts of grand larceny, and two counts of petit larceny, both felonies.

According to the criminal complaint from Upshur County, on March 25, 2025, Corporal Samuel W. Shahan with the West Virginia State Police received a client list of Integrity Cleaning LLC, and multiple photos of jewelry sold to Gold Rush. Gold Rush employees obtained a copy of Mitchell’s driver’s license “when the jewelry was sold to them.”

Officers learned that “at least nine individuals residing in Upshur County from the client list has various pieces of jewelry and some U.S. currency missing after Ms. Mitchell cleaned their residence,” the complaint states.

During a videotaped interview with an Upshur County deputy, Mitchell allegedly admitted to “removing jewelry from houses she was cleaning and sold it to Gold Rush,” the complaint states. She reportedly told officers she “used the money to pay bills and buy groceries.”

The criminal complaint from the Buckhannon detachment of the West Virginia State Police states that a total of $70,284 of stolen items was taken from nine homes in Upshur County between Sept. 5 and March 14.

According to court records, on Dec. 5, Mitchell entered into a plea agreement in Upshur County Circuit Court that was accepted by Judge Kurt W. Hall.

In Barbour County, Mitchell was charged with three counts of burglary and three counts of grand larceny, all felonies, according to court records. According to the Barbour County criminal complaint, about $17,988 worth of jewelry was taken from one home in Barbour, while about $1,200 in jewelry was taken from another Barbour residence.

In February, Mitchell was indicted on three counts of burglary and three counts of grand larceny by the Barbour County Grand Jury.