Court Beat

October 19, 2023

The arraignment for former Sierra County Behavioral Health employee Brandie Purvis began on October 12th and will be continued on October 24th, 2023. Judge Jane York Punneo appeared less than thrilled with Purvis attending the initial arraignment hearing on the 12th via Zoom and made crystal clear her order for the defendant to be personally present on the 24th.

Purvis is charged with four felony counts: theft from an elder or dependent adult by a caretaker, embezzlement, identity theft, and grand theft. Messenger readers were made aware of the allegations against Purvis in the September 14th, 2023 edition by a press release from the Sierra County Sheriff’s Office, which stated, “[Purvis] illicitly accessed the victim’s banking cards and subsequently made unauthorized purchases, amounting to thousands of dollars in merchandise, that was delivered to her residence.” Purvis remains out of jail on a $20,000 bond, with several instructions forbidding her to contact the victim.