"I just want to apologize to Mat Heck, the prosecutors, " and to the citizens of Montgomery County, Bruns said.
First report:
The former Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office employee who stole nearly $90,000 from the county lied about his involvement and only fully confessed when investigators looked deeper, according to a sentencing memorandum filed Monday by the special prosecutor.
“Mr. Bruns only came clean when his fraud became known,” prosecutors wrote. ‘There was a paper trail to him, and he had to know once the trail was investigated he would be discovered.”
RELATED: Bruns made ‘series of bad choices’
David Bruns, 48, is scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday by visiting Judge Linton D. Lewis, who retired from Perry County. Bruns pleaded guilty in December to theft in office and tampering with government records, both felonies.
Bruns worked in the delinquent tax assessment unit and legally made about $36,000 per year. Bruns is the husband of Julie Bruns, who is the head of Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr.’s juvenile division and also Heck’s second cousin.
EARLIER: Bruns pleads guilty to theft in office
The sentencing memo written by Franklin County Prosecutor Ronald O’Brien and assistant Jeffrey Blake disputes that the case was self-reported. The thefts began in December 2011, according to court documents.
“The discovery of the above crimes came about only because an outside individual was questioning an allocation of $40,116 to Skyfall Properties in a foreclosure matter,” prosecutors wrote, adding that Buns advised his supervisor the week of Aug. 8, 2016, that he spoke to the company and was told it was an error.
“Only later on Aug. 15, 2016, did Mr. Bruns confess he was Skyfall Properties. Also, at this time he did not admit to the full amount of his criminal activity.”
MORE: Stolen money should have funded foreclosures
Prosecutors wrote that Bruns first admitted to some theft Aug. 17, 2016, and that he used other methods to steal money. As investigators searched further, Bruns then admitted and cooperated with investigators and said the theft amount was closer to $90,000 than the original $40,116. Bruns was fired Aug. 22, 2016.
“Though the State asserts the claim that this was self-reporting is inaccurate, the State still agrees to the joint recommendation for community control if restitution is fully made,” prosecutors wrote. “The State asks for the Court to impose any and all local sanctions that it feels appropriate.”
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