Former townshp treasurer sentenced
The former treasurer of Bearinger Township and the Ocqueoc/Bearinger fire board started serving a one-month jail term Monday, several hours after 53rd Circuit Judge Scott Pavlich imposed the sentence and set a restitution repayment deadline of December 1. Gary Mack, 49, was charged and convicted of embezzling nearly $6,500 from the two public entities over a four-year period. Most of the funds ? $6,080 ? were taken from the fire board, starting in 1999. Mack appeared in front of Pavlich and apologized to his friends, family, colleagues and neighbors.
?I SEVERELY LET them down,? he said. ?I lost sight of personal and professional values and did dishonest things, all for a quick fix for my financial situation.? ?I am deeply ashamed of the deeds I?ve committed against this community,? Mack said, as he read slowly from his notes. ?I wanted to provide good public service, and I ended up abusing it.?
The plea agreement capped jail time at one month, but sentencing guidelines scored him zero to six months, so Pavlich could have given Mack no time behind bars, or a half a year. Prosecutor Don McLennan said the ?people are of the opinion that there must be some incarceration consequence.?
Pavlich agreed, and ordered Mack to begin serving the time immediately, although he allowed him to report to the sheriff?s department at 6 p.m.
BEFORE HANDING down the sentence, Mack?s attorney Larry Farmer asked the judge to not impose any jail time, but ?if the court feels it cannot do that, we would request that the time for commencement of jail time, coincide with the date recommended for completion of restitution.? Prior to Mack?s arraignment in district court, Farmer assisted him in an attempt to pay the restitution in full, ?by tapping his home equity,? Farmer said. ?That got blocked by the problematic situation of his employment,? Farmer said. ?That is still on hold. Hopefully, there will be a ready solution to that.?
Farmer said the most pressing need was to secure ?meaningful, fulltime employment,? and there were a couple of prospects that hinged on the seasonal upturn in the local economy.
If the jail time were delayed until December, it would offer an opportunity for his client to get a job, to come up with the money he owes. Pavlich was asked to consider Mack?s lack of a criminal record, and also take into consideration that he came forward on his own and fully cooperated in th
?HIS CONSCIENCE just could not bear, and would not allow him, to go on. Not under threat of any impending discovery, he came forward to put this load down,? Farmer said. ?We recognize what he did was incredulously wrong, and he will struggle with that for a long, long time.? McLennan said over the next couple of months an investigator from the Michigan Department of Treasury, who specializes in embezzlement cases involving public officials, will determine if Mack took the amount that has been identified as the total, or whether it?s more. The investigation is expected to be completed by the fall.
?It would seem to me, it would be best for you and everyone else to get it over with,? said Pavlich. ?If you do get these jobs, how do you get hired and tell your employer…you have to go to jail in December? It throws a wrench in the whole works.? ?I hope you put this behind you and make the most of it and pay these people back.?