Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 15, 1995 TAG: 9511150052
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KIMBERLY N. MARTIN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Lautenschlager pleaded guilty to four felony counts of grand larceny from January 1992 to December 1993 and no contest to two counts of grand larceny in 1994.
Lautenschlager resigned his council seat and confessed to stealing money from the squad at a news conference in July, just hours before a Salem grand jury indicted him.
What still hasn't been resolved is exactly how much Lautenschlager took.
Pittsylvania County Commonwealth's Attorney David Grimes, the special prosecutor for the case, put the amount at $24,279.64., but Lautenschlager's attorney, John Gregory Jr., said it's more like $20,000.
However, the former councilman has paid close to $24,000 in restitution to the squad, Gregory said. That amount includes the squad's attorney fees.
"There's no question that he was stealing money in '92 and '93 ... [but] it was important for him not to be seen as stealing money while he was on council," Gregory said, explaining his client's no contest plea to the 1994 charges.
Gregory said Lautenschlager believes that what he deposited in the squad account is "pretty close" to what he removed from it in 1994.
The account in question was the squad's Wiley Fund, established in memory of paramedic David Wiley and begun in 1986 with about $20,000.
Lautenschlager, who was a member of the board that oversaw the account, was the only board member authorized by the bank to withdraw money from it.
Other members of the board thought the account was dormant; but when they looked at the books earlier this year, they found money was going in and coming out on a regular basis.
A five-month state police investigation found Lautenschlager dipped into the Wiley Fund for his personal use 30 times in three years. Seven of those were in 1994.
However, Gregory said some of those withdrawals were legitimate.
Before the squad requested the state police investigation, Lautenschlager said he used the Wiley Fund as a "pass through" account. He said he withdrew money for training supplies and materials and replaced it with fees from classes.
That did happen - sometimes.
But at other times Lautenschlager, who taught emergency medical services classes on the side, would write himself a check from the Wiley Fund to "reimburse" himself for textbooks that students already had paid for, Gregory said.
In another instance, the memo on a check read "transfer to CD." But the money never made it to the Wiley Fund's Certificate of Deposit; instead, it was deposited in Lautenschlager's account.
At Tuesday's hearing, Lautenschlager remained composed, unlike during his tearful confession four months ago. No explanation was offered for why the 40-year-old began pilfering from the organization he had been a member of for 23 years.
State police also investigated the handling of some transactions at Lautenschlager's former employer, the Western Virginia EMS Council. Lautenschlager resigned as executive director of the council, which helps rescue squads seek money for training. He is now working two part-time jobs, Gregory said.
No money was found missing; however, the EMS Council's credit card was used for Salem Rescue Squad activities and Lautenschlager's personal expenses. All of the purchases - several of which were in the thousands of dollars - were repaid before the investigation.
Lautenschlager can receive up to 20 years in prison for each count of grand larceny. Grimes would not say how much jail time, if any, he would recommend. Lautenschlager is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 16.
Gregory said he is hoping for no jail time.
"Garry Lautenschlager has done a lot for this community, and he is still well-respected by people in this community," Gregory said. "I hope to show what 20 years of community service in this community is worth."
Judge J. Warren Stevens of Newport News heard the case after area judges disqualified themselves.
Former squad Chief Earl Ray Houff Jr., who was convicted in June for stealing more than $1,900 from the squad's Good Neighbor Fund, spent no time behind bars for his crime.
He was sentenced to 30 days in jail, with the remainder of his three-year sentence suspended. But his sentence was diverted to 200 hours of community service.
by CNB