Former Columbus Zoo executive pleads guilty to 16 felonies; sentencing set for September
The second of three former top executives of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium pleaded guilty Tuesday to an array of theft, conspiracy and other charges for defrauding taxpayers and zoo coffers of millions of dollars.
Peter Fingerhut faced 63 felony counts including bribery, conspiracy, extortion and money laundering when he and others were indicted in September.
On Tuesday he pleaded guilty to 16 felonies and one misdemeanor, leaving his sentencing on Sept. 23 to Delaware County Common Pleas Judge David Gormley.
Fingerhut faces up to 37 ½ years in prison. He also agreed to pay $675,573 in restitution to the zoo, a small part of which will go to the IRS and Ohio Department of Taxation.
Two current zoo employees sat in the front row of the gallery during Tuesday's plea hearing: "We want to see this crook go to jail," one of them said, declining to be named because they were unauthorized to discuss the matter.
As marketing director, Fingerhut oversaw promotional tickets, tie-ins with zoo sponsors and special events involving donors. His trial was scheduled for July 9.
Part of his plea might be connected to that of Greg Bell, the zoo's former chief financial officer, who agreed to cooperate with special prosecutors with the Ohio Attorney General's office. Bell pleaded guilty to 14 felony counts and faces up to 33 ½ years in prison at an Aug. 19 sentencing hearing.
Some have described former CEO Thomas Stalf as the ringleader of the theft and fraud, if only because he held the zoo's top job with others reporting directly to him.
In court documents, prosecutors accused Stalf of using zoo money to buy a recreational vehicle for his exclusive use, taking it aboard a ferry to Put-in-Bay on South Bass Island in Lake Erie for a family trip. His trial is set for Aug. 6.
The indictment for the trio alleges that upper management treated zoo cash, inventory of alcohol for special events and other zoo assets "as if they owned it." Stalf is accused of stealing bottles of alcohol and beer from the zoo warehouse for parties at his home several times a year over a five- to six-year period, according to the indictment.
Bell's attorney, Sam Shamansky, said his client was the first to admit wrongdoing and place his fate in the hands of the court.
"Virtually, since Day 1, he's made efforts at restitution and has fully cooperated with the authorities to remedy a very difficult situation," Shamansky said.
A fourth official, Tracy Murnane, is the most recent to face felony charges in the scandal.
Murnane faces charges of grand theft; complicity in the commission of theft of a motor vehicle; forgery; telecommunications fraud; and filing incomplete, false and fraudulent returns, according to Ohio Auditor Keith Faber's office.
Prosecutors accused Murnane of personally profiting by selling cars to the zoo using an anonymous seller; attending special events with zoo-owned tickets and booking a party bus for his son's wedding using zoo resources. Murnane is scheduled for his arraignment/change of plea hearing on July 8.
dnarciso@dispatch.com
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Second former Columbus Zoo official pleads guilty to theft, conspiracy
