A woman faces theft-related charges after she pawned 90 DVDs that her children borrowed from the Scottsdale Public Library, according to court documents.

Joanna Marie Alvarez, 43, who lives on the Salt River Reservation, faces charges of theft and trafficking in stolen property, according to Maricopa County Superior Court documents.

Three of Alvarez’s children borrowed the DVDs, worth an estimated $2,872, and Alvarez pawned them at a SuperPawn in Mesa in October 2016, the filing says.

A pawn-shop employee said Alvarez told them she got the DVDs at a Scottsdale library yard sale. However, an employee later called the library about the DVDs, which had “City of Scottsdale” printed on them, according to the filing.

A Scottsdale police officer was able to recover 77 of the 90 DVDs. 

Scottsdale police interviewed Alvarez after the Salt River Police Department took her into custody on an unrelated traffic warrant in May.

Alvarez said she didn’t know pawning the items was illegal, according to the filing. She said she pawned the DVDs to get money to pay her electric bill and had intended to get them back out of pawn, according to the filing.

Alvarez has past convictions that include welfare fraud, forgery, theft and escaping custody.

Alvarez’s initial court hearing is scheduled for Aug. 23. 

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