Former Columbus Zoo CEO Tom Stalf to be sentenced amid questions about white-collar crime

Tom Stalf has been called the boss of the $2.3 million theft scandal at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, if only because he was the CEO who had influence and control over the actions of his subordinates.

Instead of being someone with integrity and a strong moral compass, prosecutors say, he betrayed the trust of his position and encouraged those who worked for him to do the same, in some cases coercing employees to follow him or risk- to be fired He pleaded guilty in July to 15 charges, including aggravated robbery, tampering with records, wire fraud and conspiracy.

On Monday morning, Stalf will be the fourth of five former zoo employees to be sentenced in Delaware County Common Pleas Court as questions about his punishment persist. Too tough for white collar crime? Or not serious enough to steal public funds from a beloved Ohio institution?

Former CFO Greg Bell has already been sentenced to three years in prison. Tracy Murnane, a former purchasing manager, was sentenced to three years of community control and 60 days in jail, half of which he will be allowed work release privileges. Bell’s son, who worked in the business office, was given community control with no jail time.

Stalf and former marketing director Pete Fingerhut are considered the masterminds, however, accused of operating a criminal enterprise to siphon zoo resources and colluding to cover up their crimes.

Should they serve longer and pay more compensation than their former colleagues?

Delaware County judge will weigh a variety of factors in sentencing, Ohio State law professor says

Delaware County Common Pleas Judge David Gormley will decide, weighing his remorse, cooperation with prosecutors and a list of mitigating and aggravating factors.

“Society rightly has a reaction to these crimes,” said Douglas A. Berman, a law professor at Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. “These are people who knew better than to calculate and impose a cost on an individual or a community.”

While some may favor a harsh punishment, others, including judges, may consider the complexity of the crime and the details provided in a presentence investigation report filed in court but not shared with the public.

Judges can consider public humiliation and loss of wages and reputation as punishment, Berman said.

“You’ve already learned that crime doesn’t pay. You’re broke. You’ve already suffered, financially, putting money in your pocket that didn’t belong to you,” he said. “Finding out how much punishment becomes the challenge.”

Berman said there are types of punishment in addition to prison or restitution “that can help the community believe that this is justice, but it keeps the penalties in the minds of future offenders and can help create an additional deterrent effect for others.”

So-called “shaming sanctions” could be as effective as prison by ordering convicts to educate the public about their crimes, perform community service projects or provide inmate counseling, Berman said.

The US Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs judges punishments to be shaming because of how they are perceived by the public, whether they symbolize viable alternatives to incarceration or whether they stigmatize and dishonor or provide opportunities for moral and social reintegration and the eventual rehabilitation of the criminal.

What did prosecutors accuse former Columbus Zoo officials of doing?

According to last year’s indictment, the crimes occurred between 2011 and late 2021.

Among the crimes prosecutors charged Stalf and his co-indictees with were:

• Stalf himself used zoo credit cards to buy thousands of dollars in country club memberships, food and alcohol and other goods and services for himself and his family and then falsified authorization forms to cover his crimes . Stalf stole bottles of alcohol and beer from the zoo’s warehouse for parties at his home.

• At Huntington Park, Nationwide Arena and the Schottenstein Center, Stalf and his colleagues spent $1.8 million in zoo funds alone on personal expenses and events for themselves and their friends and family.

• Stalf used the trade-in system from the zoo to attend a World Series, buy high-end bicycles, limo rides and a Florida vacation.

• Over several years, the zoo spent more than $80,000 to renovate a zoo-owned residence that Stalf would eventually rent at a deep discount to family members.

• “In reality, the family members made a list like a child makes a Christmas list of events to go to,” according to the indictment last year. To achieve this, money was laundered, invoices were altered and records were destroyed.

Lawyer weighs in on who’s to blame in $2.3 million theft scandal

“If you’re the head of an organization and there’s a power dynamic … and you foster a culture that encourages theft, it’s fair to infer that you’re more culpable than those who work,” said attorney Sam Shamansky of qual The client, former zoo CFO Greg Bell, was the first to plead guilty to all charges and agreed to cooperate. He has started a three-year prison sentence. “Those who get a bigger reward often feel more guilty.”

Shamansky notes, however, that as disgusting as the crimes may seem, the zoo has recovered financially.

“It’s not a lot of money as a percentage,” he noted, comparing the $2.3 million loss to an operating budget of more than $80 million. “The zoo keeps going.”

Equally troubling is what he called lax oversight by the zoo’s board.

“They were asleep on the bench … It’s (their) job to look at every control and every decision. This wasn’t just an oversight. They’re complicit,” Shamansky said of the board that has since been downsized. and responsibility at the insistence of county and municipal officials.

As for Stalf, Shamansky said there is a “magic number” of years he and his attorney would have to wait.

“If he’s five, he can’t get out until he’s four. If he gets nine, he can’t apply for release until he’s five.”

Peter Fingerhut, the zoo’s former marketing director, is scheduled for sentencing on Oct. 28.

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This article originally appeared in The Columbus Dispatch: Former Columbus Zoo CEO to be sentenced Oct. 14 in Delaware County