Gardner trial set to start next week
By WILLIAM F. AST III - H-P Staff Writer
Published: Wednesday, July 7, 2010 1:08 PM EDT
GRAND RAPIDS - Former Stevensville Village Manager Todd Gardner's federal trial on embezzlement charges is set to proceed with jury selection at 9 a.m. Tuesday.
"There have been no requests for any continuances," said U.S. Assistant Attorney Matthew Borgula. The trial is scheduled to take place in federal court in Grand Rapids before U.S. District Court Judge Janet Neff.
Jury selection will likely take "a couple of hours at most," and the trial itself will probably last a couple of days, he said.
A pretrial conference was scheduled to take place Tuesday of this week. Borgula said the conference was only "to make sure there are no outstanding issues before we pick a jury."
The indictment against Gardner charges that from April 1, 2006, to May 31, 2009, Gardner took $293,141 of village money "for his own use and benefit." The indictment alleges a scheme in which Gardner wired funds for his own use out of bank accounts designated for public works, major streets, a building fund, construction administration and the Downtown Development Authority.
The Stevensville Village Council hired Gardner in April 2006 and in May 2009 did not renew his contract. The indictment identifies him as the village's treasurer as well as its manager, though Gardner has denied being treasurer.
In November 2006, several months after Gardner was hired, Treasurer Jan Lausch-Zilke resigned, reportedly after run-ins with Gardner. The audit said he was responsible for all financial activity following the treasurer's departure.
"Once the previous treasurer resigned, the illegal activity began within a month," state auditor Derek Hall told the Village Council in February.
Gardner allegedly used some of the money to pay down a mortgage on his house and used village accounts to buy things for his own use.
Stevensville's books hadn't been audited since fiscal year 2006.
State law allows villages to have their books audited every two years instead of annually. Council members have said Gardner talked them into having an audit every two years to save money, though he has denied doing that as well.
Once it became evident that Stevensville's books were in disarray, the council hired a certified public accountant to reconstruct the financial records. The Michigan Department of Treasury then audited the village's books, and that audit confirmed money had been taken.
wast@TheH-P.com