Columbus Zoo execs' sentencings to begin with former CFO facing judge this week

When Greg Bell walks into the Delaware County courtroom Monday, he'll likely have little certainty of how Common Pleas Judge David Gormley will sentence him for years of fraudulent conduct as chief financial officer of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium.

But many will be watching — zoo staff and volunteers, attorneys and the public whose sense of betrayal may not have been tempered by Bell's early admission of guilt.

On Oct. 19, Bell pleaded guilty to 14 felony counts brought in an indictment , including conspiracy, aggravated theft and 11 counts of tampering with records. He faces a maximum of 33 1/2 years in prison and more than $20,000 in fines if Gormley runs each count's sentence consecutively, which is extremely unlikely.

As part of his guilty plea, Bell agreed to fully cooperate with prosecutors to provide evidence against other zoo executives who used public money and property for private use.

Bell's role in the loss of about $2.3 million in zoo funds may be especially egregious, attorneys and observers say, because he's been a CPA for decades, undertaken annual ethics and other training and was expected to implement accounting safeguards, checks and balances and bookkeeping redundancies designed to prevent the very misconduct he engaged in.

Daniel Kasaris, Ohio Attorney General's office special prosecutor, believes that Bell, hired in 1991 as the zoo's controller and later promoted to CFO, was central to the crimes.

"The stench that became this criminal enterprise that infected the zoo would not have happened but for the CFO's involvement within it," wrote Kasaris in his sentencing memorandum.

Bell repeatedly used cash from barter accounts — intended for zoo operations — on himself and his children, including for antiques, baseball tickets, food and alcohol. His family was so involved that they sent their father annual "wish lists" on his zoo email for concerts at Nationwide Arena and Schottenstein Center.

He allowed his son to live rent-free in a zoo-owned home.

Bell also used zoo credit cards on a variety of personal purchases, with Bell covering the fraud by altering credit card usage forms to indicate that the stolen funds were being spent on advertising or "promotional support."

A soft-spoken judge wields a strong gavel

Gormley has a gentle courtroom demeanor and is soft-spoken and polite. But he's also been known to hand down harsh sentences.

Gormley handled the sentencing of Susan Gwynne , who, masquerading as a nurse's aide, stole about 3,000 pieces of jewelry and other items from at least 46 elderly patients in nursing homes between 2008 and 2016. Gormley sentenced her to 65 years in prison for 31 felony and 15 misdemeanor counts of theft, to which she pleaded guilty.

The case was appealed twice and eventually upheld by the Ohio Supreme Court in October. Gwynne, 62, a first-time offender, effectively is sentenced to life and remains in the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville.

So which crime is worse? Stealing from society's most vulnerable in nursing homes or from taxpayers who support one of Ohio's premier destinations, especially when an "atmosphere of entitlement and arrogance polluted upper management," according to the Kasaris memo.

As harshly as Kasaris describes Bell, he'll also tell the court that the other executives, CEO Tom Stalf and marketing director Peter Fingerhut, might not have entered guilty pleas themselves without evidence provided by Bell to be used against them.

"The pleas of co-defendants Stalf and Fingerhut became more likely due to the cooperation of this defendant," Kasaris says in the sentencing document.

Bell's attorney, Sam Shamansky, said he has confidence that Gormley will impose a fair sentence based on Bell's remorse, restitution already paid and lack of prior criminal record.

"Was he pressured? Yes," says Shamansky. "Should he have been stronger? Yes."

"But no individual was harmed," he added.

However, one could argue that every Franklin County resident who pays property taxes for the zoo levy, roughly $20 million in public funds annually, has been harmed. Most of the zoo's budget is from private donations, gate sales and other revenue.

Still, government officials expect justice.

Franklin County Commissioner John O'Grady said of the punishment: "It's been a long time coming for us.

"These are positions of trust ... and to abuse that trust is an abuse of the honor and integrity that the residents and taxpayers expect."

O'Grady insists that no taxpayer dollars were directly involved in the theft nor that Jack Hanna, former zoo president and CEO, had been involved in similar misconduct. But he questions the zoo's board of directors. The board has been reorganized and reduced in size since the scandal broke three years ago.

"The idea that there were no safeguards to be put in place to prevent it from happening again is a problem," said O'Grady.

Current CEO Tom Schmid has said that several protocols have been implemented in the business office and general operations to improve accountability.

Others to be sentenced include:

• Former CEO Tom Stalf faces 36 felony charges and is scheduled for sentencing Oct. 14.
• Pete Fingerhut, former marketing director, pleaded guilt y to 16 felonies and one misdemeanor. He is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 23.
• Tracy Murnane, former purchasing agent, pleaded guilty July 8 to six felonies and two misdemeanors. He will be sentenced Sept. 23.
• Grant Bell, former purchasing assistant and Greg Bell's son, one count of theft, a fifth-degree felony. He is scheduled for sentencing Sept. 9.

dnarciso@dispatch.com

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Zoo execs' sentencings to begin with former CFO facing judge this week