SUZANNE M. POMEY sits in Middlesex Superior Court on Friday at a hearing for her and Randy J. Gomes. The Class of 2002 members pleaded guilty to stealing nearly $100,000.

Randy J. Gomes and Suzanne M. Pomey pleaded guilty to embezzling almost $100,000 from the Hasty Pudding Theatricals at a hearing Friday.

The two members of the Class of 2002 changed their original not guilty pleas as their lawyers argued they should avoid jail time and not have the guilty plea entered on their records.

But Middlesex County Assistant District Attorney Edward R. Bedrosian Jr. argued Gomes should serve nine months in jail and Pomey, 30 days.

Pomey was the producer of the Pudding’s annual drag show two years ago and Gomes was the assistant director of the group’s famed Man and Woman of the Year ceremonies in the same year.

Complex Precedent

Lena Demashkieh ’03, producer of last year’s Pudding show who, prosecutors say, discovered the discrepancies in the Pudding’s finances last spring, took the witness stand at the two-hour hearing in the Middlesex Superior Court. She asked the judge to sentence the two to jail time.

“They should be held to the highest standard,” she said.

Gomes and Pomey had originally pleaded not guilty to felony larceny at their Feb. 5 arraignment.

As they changed their pleas Friday, their lawyers argued the court should follow the procedure outlined in a 1971 Mass. Supreme Judical Court decision, Commonwealth v. Brandano.

According to the Brandano procedure, the lawyers argued, the court has the authority to reject a plea of guilty, offer pre-trial probation to the defendants, continue the case for a period of two years and ultimately dismiss the case without a final finding.

The two defendants sat in opposite corners of the room with their families until they were called by Judge Peter Agnes to change their pleas.

Pomey and Gomes then faced questioning from Agnes to make sure they understood the consequences of pleading guilty.

Agnes warned them that they risked conviction and a maximum penalty of five years in prison if he chose to accept their guilty pleas or was ordered to do so by an appellate court.

But Agnes also said that if he chose to impose a more severe punishment than the two years probation the defendants’ lawyers are asking for, he would allow them to take back their guilty pleas.

Bedrosian said Gomes should be sentenced to two and a half years in jail, with nine months served, 200 hours of community service and full restitution to the Pudding.