Woman Gets Probation, Fine in ‘War of Roses’ Divorce Case : Sentence: Helen Ruppert was convicted of having two men scare her ex-husband into signing a property settlement.

A 61-year-old woman who was convicted of having two men use a lighted road flare to scare her ex-husband into signing a $600,000 property settle- ment was sentenced Wednesday to informal probation and fined $10,000.

In handing down the sentence, Orange County Superior Court Judge Donald A. McCartin called Helen Ruppert’s actions “awful” but “typical” in bitterly contested divorces.

McCartin suggested that the best sentence might be to “keep (Ruppert and her ex-husband) married for the rest of their lives. They deserve each other.”

Ruppert, of Laguna Beach, was convicted Aug. 19 on charges of conspiracy, extortion, burglary and assault with a deadly weapon. She had faced up to seven years in prison for the offenses, attorneys said.

A pre-sentencing report by the County Probation Department, in fact, recommended a much harsher sentence for Ruppert, urging that she receive “substantial” time in prison.

“I’m surprised that (the Probation Department) didn’t give her the death penalty,” said McCartin, as he sharply rejected the sentencing recommendations. He said the report “upset” him and was the most “biased and subjective report I’ve ever read.”

After the sentencing, Ruppert walked out of the courtroom with her attorney, Gary M. Pohlson, and said: “It’s good to have it over.”

Her ex-husband, Harold H. Ruppert, 65, testified during the trial but was not at Wednesday’s proceedings. After hearing about his ex-wife’s sentence, however, he expressed disbelief.

“I cannot believe the reasoning of the judge,” he said in a telephone interview from Oklahoma City, where he owns three hotels. “I think it’s incredible. She committed four major felonies, big felonies . . . and she goes scot-free. It’s not that I want her in jail, I just want her out of my life. She’s pulled these stunts and receives a slap on the fingers.

“How many other women does this encourage to extort and steal from their husbands and conspire with hit men, if she doesn’t even go to jail?”

Harold Ruppert said he also resented the judge’s comments. “I wish the judge had been in my shoes, gone through what I’ve gone through. I’m the victim. Why would I deserve this? . . . I’m bitter toward the judicial system.”

On top of all that, Harold Ruppert said, he will “indirectly” have to pay the $10,000 fine himself. “I’ve supported her, and I’m continuing to support her,” he added.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Jaime Coulter said he would have preferred to see Helen Ruppert get “some jail time,” at least as much the two men who extorted her ex-husband. “She masterminded the whole thing,” Coulter said.

Those men, Richard William Nimmo and Ralph Thomas Pueschel, pleaded guilty for their role in the incident. Both men testified against Ruppert and were sentenced to probation and jail time--five months for Nimmo and four months for Pueschel, Coulter said.

The case had been likened to the movie, “The War of the Roses,” as details of the Rupperts’ 3 1/2-year marriage and five-year, post-divorce fighting over $11 million in assets emerged.

Although divorced, the couple still share the same house they lived in while married because they could not agree to a property settlement. Helen Ruppert lives in the upstairs portion, and Harold Ruppert in the downstairs area.

It was in his section of the house that Harold Ruppert was confronted by Nimmo and Pueschel, threatened with a road flare held near his groin and told to sign a property settlement.

According to Nimmo’s testimony, he told Harold Ruppert to sign the papers or he “was a dead man.” Ruppert signed the agreement and promptly called police when the two men left.

Before sentencing Helen Ruppert, Judge McCartin commented on how the case was basically a divorce dispute with the “unique idea to put a flare to the private parts of Mr. Ruppert.”

“It got out of hand,” McCartin said.

The judge added, however, that he did not think that Helen Ruppert meant for any “physical violence” to be inflicted on her ex-husband. Nonetheless, he said, “the conduct of the defendant was reprehensible, but that’s what happens in cases like this.”

As part of her sentence, Helen Ruppert was ordered to make $500 restitution and to have no contact with her ex-husband. The informal probation is to last for a year or until the divorce settlement becomes final. Additionally, the $10,000 fine must be paid within six months.