THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, January 7, 1997 TAG: 9701070210
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JUNE ARNEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: 94 lines
Robert A. Gurkin Jr., who embezzled more than $19,000 from a youth baseball league, was sentenced Monday to 30 days in jail and ordered to make full restitution at the rate of $750 a month.
On the witness stand, Gurkin apologized for his crime, saying he knew he had let many people down. He took the money from the Indian River Pony Baseball League to pay bills, he said, intending to repay the league.
He took over as treasurer of the league in December 1994. By the time he left the job 14 months later, there wasn't enough money to buy trophies, hold a banquet or award an annual $1,000 scholarship. For a while, there was a question of whether the league would be able to offer baseball during the 1997 season.
Gurkin, a Navy aviation mechanic, wanted to repay the $16,961 he still owes at the rate of $350 a month, but Circuit Judge E. Preston Grissom ordered the higher amount. At that rate, it will take Gurkin almost two years to repay the money.
He testified that he and his wife - who have three children, including a son who played in the league - earn about $3,700 a month. He makes just under $1,000 every two weeks from his Navy job and about $200 a week from a part-time construction job, and his wife earns about $988 a month. Gurkin has declared personal bankruptcy.
Grissom sentenced Gurkin to six years in prison before suspending the term and ordering him to spend 30 days in jail, which he said Gurkin could serve as part of the sheriff's Saturday work program. He also ordered an indeterminate term of supervised probation and payment of court costs.
``I intend to make certain that everyone understand that despite the tremendous contributions you've made to children's baseball, you cannot get by taking money that's been entrusted for children,'' Grissom said.
Sentencing guidelines did not recommend any jail time. But prosecutor Douglas B. Ottinger argued that Gurkin's offense merited going outside the guidelines.
``Considering the amount taken here and the position he was in, and the hardship the children in the league have had, this is obviously a place where the judge can deviate from the guidelines,'' Ottinger said.
Since the crime was disclosed, the league has received $1,967 in gifts, including $217 from a group of children in Virginia Beach who held a yard sale and sold their toys and other items. A $100 gift came from an Alabama businessman traveling through the area who read a newspaper story and wanted to help.
Gurkin, 33, declined to be interviewed.
``He has recognized the errors of his ways,'' his attorney, Larry Wise, said in court. ``He's very sorry for what's happened.''
During the hearing, the judge read letters of praise for Gurkin, a Persian Gulf War veteran, from several parents. One wrote: ``I've seen him give endless hours of time and energy to the Indian River Baseball League.'' Another said: ``My son flourished under his coaching.''
The judge then asked Jeff Crossland, president of the organization, whether he thought those letters accurately described Gurkin.
``He was a good coach,'' Crossland testified. ``He ran the T-ball league one year, and he was probably one of the best I've seen.''
But Crossland said Gurkin's theft left the league $10,000 in debt, without money for trophies or an end-of-season banquet.
``We're down to next to nothing as far as reserves,'' he testified.
In an interview after the hearing, Crossland said he was satisfied with the sentence.
``Of utmost importance to me is that the league get the money back,'' he said. ``I really never thought he'd do jail time.''
Still, the abuse of trust hurts, Crossland said.
``This is a man I trusted right up until I found out he was lying through his teeth to me. I wish I had caught him sooner. . . . I think it's going to be a pretty lean year.''
Crossland found out about the missing money in February 1996 when he tried to place an order at a sporting goods store and store employees complained that they hadn't received payment on a bill that had been past due for months. Gurkin claimed he paid the store $3,000 or $4,000 each month but could not produce canceled checks.
Instead, there were canceled checks showing payments to a store that sells riding lawn mowers and another that sells metal sheds - not league-sanctioned expenses, Crossland said.
The league, made up of 350 to 400 Chesapeake children, will hold its registration the first week of February, earlier than usual to bring in funds. The first game is scheduled for April 19, Crossland said.
Rusty Deel, a parent and league coach for seven years who was in the courtroom Monday, said he was content with the judge's sentence.
``I think it was fair. The 30 days will make him think about it more than just having to pay back the money. He got a free loan. I've never been paid for coaching.''
Cathy Dalton, the league's new treasurer, said the organization still owes a sporting goods store $5,300.
``We're all in a damage-control situation,'' she said. ``The community support that we can get is going to make the difference.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Robert A. Gurkin Jr. was ordered to make full restitution to the
Indian River Pony Baseball League at the rate of $750 a month.
KEYWORDS: LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL EMBEZZLEMENT SENTENCE