By SYDNEY KENT
“I can’t explain it,” Thomas Schmidt told the court when asked what happened to the $200,000 he embezzled from Almco Steel Products.
The theft occurred over a three-year period, and Schmidt, 54, Fort Wayne, was arrested in March of this year.
On Wednesday, Schmidt was sentenced to four years in the Indiana Department of Correction with all but 18 months suspended. He was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $17,610 and spend 30 months on probation upon his release from incarceration. The sentence was issued immediately after Schmidt pled guilty to one count of theft, a Level 5 felony, in the Wells Circuit Court on Wednesday.
Schmidt’s inability to explain the whereabouts of the misappropriated funds prompted further questioning from Judge Kenton Kiracofe.
“Do you have debts?” Kiracofe asked. “Credit card debt?”
Schmidt flatly denied any debt.
“Where did the property you bought with the company credit card go?” Kiracofe prompted.
“I guess, I don’t know,” Schmidt hesitated. “Some of it I turned around and sold.”
“You’re renting a house and making car payments,” Kiracofe continued, “Over a three year time you have had a $200,000 bonus. Where did that money go?”
Schmidt stated that he lost the house he owned during this time because he could not keep up on the payments. He went on to explain that he sold equipment to a random person he met on the internet over that time period as well.
“A random person on the internet,” Kiracofe raised his eyebrows. “That’s what you want me to believe?”
According to a probable cause affidavit, James Almdale, the owner of Almco Steel Products, requested to speak to an officer regarding an employee theft in November of 2022. Almdale reported that Schmidt had used the company credit card to purchase possibly over $200,00 worth of merchandise for himself.
Schmidt, an employee for nearly 30 years, had first embezzled $8,016.83 from the company in 2019 over the course of 20 purchases. The following year, Schmidt had stolen nearly eight times that amount from the company.
During the investigation, Detective Cliff Thomas with the Bluffton Police Department identified and detailed over 76 fraudulent charges using the company credit card that totaled approximately $81,152. Thomas stated that he believed Schmidt continued to defraud Almco Steel after he was caught and confronted by both the company and law enforcement.
In December 2022, Thomas spoke with Schmidt on the phone. Schmidt advised he wanted to speak to an attorney first. Thomas again attempted to facilitate a conversation during the investigation, however, Schmidt failed to return his calls.
In February 2023, Greg Rekeweg with Almco Steel advised that the company discovered Schmidt had opened a new account using Almco’s tax identification number with a credit limit of $50,000. The account, opened months after Schmidt had been confronted about the investigation, showed an overdue balance of $18,222.18 from the purchases of several computers.
A statement from Almco Steel read by Prosecutor David Crell stated that the company has ongoing concern for how to prevent Thomas from utilizing any remote access he may have in place. The statement also argued that a portion of the items that were purchased could still be recovered, either at Schmidt’s residence or in the possession of his family.
As Schmidt sat on the stand in a leather Star Trek jacket, he told the court that there were no longer any items left that could be returned except for a cell phone — the one issued to him by the company, not the one he purchased with the company credit card.
Schmidt’s defense argued that his two adult children, both who live at home and do not contribute financially, as well as his wife who struggles from scoliosis, would be in detriment if he were to serve time in incarceration.
“Mr. Scmidft committed a white collar crime,” Miller added. “He was employed and was in a position he abused to his employers’ detriment. He doesn’t really have anything to show for it except for these charges.”
The state called Chief Probation Officer Greg Werich to the stand.
“You heard (Schmidt) talk about the fact that he did not disclose the existence of this case,” Crell began, referencing Schmidt’s statement that his current $70,000 per year position with an aerospace and defense company was unaware of his pending charges. “Can you tell the court what influence that has on how we would fit into your program?”
“The concern would be continued deception,” Werich explained. “Crime of theft is deception, not disclosing this charge, it is a continuation of the same behavior. There are no issues we’ll be working on, so it is compliance and supervision, and pay the restitution. Hearing what I hear, he may lose his job for deception, and how is he going to pay that restitution?”
“While you didn’t pull a gun,” Kiracofe said before he issued his ruling. “It’s not any different than if he walked in there and took money out of a safe with a key. There’s no difference. That’s what you did here. A sentence without some level of incarceration diminishes the seriousness of what has happened. I recognize also that incarceration will be a hardship on him and his family, but it is a hardship he created.”
sydney@news-banner.com
