Woman who stole French bulldog in Maplewood sentenced

MAPLEWOOD, Minn. — A St. Paul woman who stole a French bulldog from a front porch in Maplewood last year learned her sentence on Wednesday.
Chanessa Gipson, 35, pleaded guilty to one count of gross misdemeanor theft and received a sentence of 360 days in jail, which is stayed for two years. She also received two years of unsupervised probation.
Her co-conspirator, Christopher Brigham, was sentenced in December to 21 months in prison. 
Gipson took the 3-year-old dog, named Pablo, from his home on the morning of May 9, 2023. Two days later, court documents say Brigham contacted Pablo’s owner on Facebook and said he would not return him unless she paid $500.
When the owner asked to meet to exchange the dog for money, Brigham stopped replying. 
Pablo’s owner later received a call telling her that Brigham had stolen Pablo and that he and a woman scout out dogs who look lost and sell them for profit or sell them back to the owners for a reward or finder’s fee.
Investigators were able to contact Brigham and warned him if he did not return the dog that same day, he would face criminal charges.
Gipson entered an Alford plea in court in July, which allows a defendant to accept a plea bargain while maintaining their innocence.