A woman known as the Christmas “Grinch” for stealing Christmas lights from a Parker County family’s home was sentenced to 70 years in prison on Friday after she was convicted of a separate burglary.
Dana Brock, 44, of Hurst, shook her head when the judge read the jury’s sentence.
Prosecutors pushed for a long sentence because of her lengthy criminal record.
Brock gained notoriety in December 2012 when she was caught on surveillance video stealing Christmas lights from outside a family’s Aledo home while they were inside sleeping.
She was arrested again in May after she stole a weed wacker and a power washer from another homeowner’s garage.
She also was caught on video in that case.
"One of our deputies who responded out to this case and looked at the surveillance video at the homeowner's house saw her on the video and said, 'Hey, that's the Grinch,’” said assistant Parker County district attorney Jeff Swain. “He knew right away who it was."
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A jury deliberated just five minutes before convicting her on Thursday.
In the sentencing phase of her trial, prosecutors pointed to her long criminal history.
Brock’s record dates to when she was a 17-year-old and was convicted in Arizona of solicitation to commit murder. Over the years she also was convicted of credit card abuse, injury to a child, theft, assault, and drug possession.
Instead of two to 20 years in prison for burglary of a habitation, she faced 25 years to life under the "three strikes and you're out" law.
She shook her head as the judge read her 70-year sentence.
"A 70-year sentence will knock the air out of your stomach,” said her attorney Raul Navarez. “She kept asking me, '70 years? Are you serious? 70 years?' Because 70 years is a pretty harsh sentence for this kind of a deal. And quite frankly, that's what I argued to the jury. But the jury decided and we have to respect that."
Navarez and prosecutors agree it didn't help her case when jurors saw the video of her stealing Christmas lights.
"When you're known as the Christmas Grinch, people do remember you,” Swain said.
Brock declined an interview request after she was sentenced.
