Former Stevensville manager faces up to 20 years in prison
By WILLIAM F. AST III - H-P Staff Writer
Published: Friday, July 16, 2010 1:07 PM EDT
GRAND RAPIDS - A U.S. District Court jury Thursday took about 45 minutes to find Todd Gardner guilty of wire fraud charges.
The former Stevensville village manager, charged with embezzling $271,696 from the village, showed no expression as the verdict was announced. He declined to make any comment after the trial was over.
Gardner will be sentenced Oct. 18. He faces up to 20 years in prison and will have to make restitution for the missing money or face possible forfeiture of property.
Gardner remains free on $25,000 bond. But U.S. Assistant Attorney Matthew Borgula, who prosecuted the case, told U.S. District Court Janet Neff that Gardner should not be allowed to open any new accounts or sell or transfer any assets.
"That certainly sounds reasonable to me," Neff said.
U.S. Attorney Donald Davis said the case was "about a corrupt public official. ... This office will aggressively pursue and prosecute governmental employees who violate their solemn oath and duties. We did so here, and justice was served," he said in a press release.
Borgula went for the jugular in his closing statement Thursday morning.
"The village of Stevensville is out of over $250,000, and the defendant, Todd Gardner, took it," Borgula told the jury. "The village manager is supposed to protect the money of the village, not steal it."
Borgula said the testimony and evidence showed Gardner was delinquent in making payments on a mortgage of nearly $400,000. He showed jurors a copy of a letter from the mortgage company to Gardner, which read, in part, "You are in danger of losing your home."
"He needed money, right away, but he was broke," Borgula said. Gardner was making $45,000 a year as manager, but that "couldn't even cover his mortgage payments. He had no money, but he had a plan."
Jan Lausch-Zilke, village treasurer, resigned in November 2006 after disagreements with Gardner.
"There is no treasurer, the checks and balances are gone," Borgula said. "Just days after she quit, he made his first transfer."
Earlier testimony showed Gardner made payments of $9,324 and $23,294 on the mortgage from village funds.
Gardner also obtained two debit cards, which allowed him to take money out of the village's public works fund, Borgula said. Some $77,000 of transactions were recorded with those cards, he said.
Gardner paid utility bills, made credit card payments, bought a vehicle, took vacations, bought personal property and paid for groceries, "all compliments of the village of Stevensville," Borgula said.
"He walked in every morning, a smile on his face, with a cup of coffee, went to his computer and started transferring funds," Borgula said. "He intended to rip off the village of Stevensville, and he did."
One of Gardner's lawyers, Sean Tilton of the federal public defender's office in Grand Rapids, told the jury the government hadn't proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt. "That's an incredibly high standard," he said.
Gardner "didn't realize he was entering a political hornet's nest" when he took the job, Tilton said. When Gardner tried to bring in some new ideas, there was a lot of "pushback" from the clerk and treasurer, he said.
"It's clear the council supported Mr. Gardner," Tilton said. "The council accepted the resignations of (Clerk) Deborah Narregan and (Treasurer) Jan (Lausch-) Zilke, while they would not accept the resignation of Mr. Gardner."
Also, the government's case left a lot of important questions unanswered, Tilton said.
"What was the council doing?" Tilton asked. "What was the council up to? The government didn't answer that for you.
"You should have heard from more council members. The council members are at the root of this case."
Regarding the previous testimony of council President Lori Gibson, "you need to judge her credibility," Tilton told the jurors. "Clearly, the president had something at stake here. The alleged funds were lost on her watch. Of course, she wants to push the blame on Mr. Gardner."
Moreover, "We don't have testimony that puts Mr. Gardner at a computer at the time the transfers were made," Tilton continued. "Where's the video in some of those stores showing Mr. Gardner using a debit card?"
Borgula was allowed to respond to Tilton's closing, and he counter punched relentlessly.
"So this is the fault of the village of Stevensville?" Borgula said sarcastically. "Mrs. Gibson is somehow guilty. You know what her big mistake was? Trusting him."
Borgula said the defense's ideas made no sense.
"Do you want people who saw Mr. Gardner signing receipts?" Borgula wondered. "Is there someone else stealing the money? He's got his own personal Robin Hood stealing money from the village and giving it to him."
All the jurors needed to do was "follow the money - he's got it," Borgula said.
Gardner was village manager from April 2006 to May 2009, when the council did not renew his contract.
Gibson was in the courtroom audience Thursday. Afterward, she said the jury "came out with the right decision." The verdict closes a painful chapter and "will help in the steps" in the village's recovery.
wast@TheH-P.com