ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, May 15, 1996 TAG: 9605150096
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: S.D. HARRINGTON STAFF WRITER
No charges will result from a three-month state police investigation of $10,000 worth of undocumented transactions in Salem Rescue Squad funds, a special prosecutor for the case said Tuesday.
Pittsylvania County Commonwealth's Attorney David Grimes said that any criminal wrongdoings have been covered by previous indictments of rescue squad officials who embezzled squad money.
State police had been investigating the fund discrepancies since February after a city-funded audit of squad accounts dating back to 1992 found more than $13,700 unaccounted for.
Rescue squad officials were able to show where $3,776 of that money went. But they asked state police to investigate the remaining $10,000.
Several of the transactions were checks written to former Salem city councilman and rescue squad chief Garry Lautenschlager, who was convicted in July of taking $20,000 from the squad's Wiley Fund.
Lautenschlager's 10-year jail sentence was suspended in January. He was sentenced to serve 300 hours of community service.
The indictments against Lautenschlager stated that he stole $200 or more, but did not give a specific amount. Each of the indictments had the same charge but they occurred at different times.
"I have not found anything that wasn't covered by the other indictments," Grimes said. "You can only prosecute things once."
As far as he is concerned, the investigation is closed, Grimes said. He mailed a letter explaining his findings to Salem Rescue Squad officials on Monday. He would not go into the details of the letter.
Rescue squad chief Mike Moore said Tuesday neither he nor the squad's attorney, James Swanson, had received the letter. Moore said he would not comment until he sees the letter.
The end to the investigation brings to a close more than a year of investigation of the funds for the squad of about 60 volunteers.
State police began investigating the squad's Good Neighbor Fund in January 1995 after a bank reported problems with the fund.
Former squad chief Earl Ray Houff Jr. was convicted last June of stealing more than $1,900 from that fund, which was established to provide money for people in the community who could not pay their medical expenses. Houff's three-year sentence was suspended and then diverted to 200 hours of community service.
State police investigated the Wiley Fund for five months in 1995 before finding that Lautenschlager dipped into it for his personal use 30 times in three years. The Wiley Fund was established in 1986 in memory of paramedic David Wiley to provide scholarships for students going into health professions.
Lautenschlager and Houff have paid back the money.
Salem City Council agreed in March 1995 to pay for the audit of all the squad's funds. Since then, the squad has hired a professional bookkeeper.
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