Z-ville booster club embezzler goes to jail

Maria Flora, The Lebanon Reporter, Ind.
·2 min read

Apr. 27—The Zionsville man who pleaded guilty to stealing $175,000 from an athletic booster club turned himself in to the Boone County Jail this month to begin his sentence.

David E. Patterson, 72, pleaded guilty to one count of theft, a level 5 felony.

Boone Circuit Court Judge Lori Schein sentenced Patterson to three years with the Indiana Department of Correction. The first year is to be served in the Boone County Jail, although Patterson may apply next month to be placed with Boone County Community Corrections.

The remaining two years are to be served on supervised probation. But the judge may choose to return Patterson to jail if he fails to adhere to conditions of his probation.

Patterson was the volunteer club treasurer beginning in January 2015 and took money from its accounts from that time through October 2019, Zionsville Police Detective Elizabeth Frost reported in 2020.

The club's assistant treasurer, Pamela Wagner, called police and met with Frost in January 2020 after Zionsville Community High School Principal Tim East and Athletic Director Greg Shellhase alerted her to suspicious activity and missing funds from the club account, Frost reported.

Wagner said Patterson withdrew cash from the club account and wrote checks to himself and to cash, according to court records. As a volunteer, Patterson was not allowed to disperse money to himself from the non-profit organization's Huntington Bank account, Frost said.

"Patterson admitted to me that he has taken money from the ZABC to pay his personal bills and daily expenditures since 2015," Frost reported after interviewing him March 3.

Patterson said his wife was never involved in his activities and he acted alone, Frost reported.

Bank records revealed he took $23,655.77 in 2015, $61,755 in 2016, $33,800 in 2017, $23,750 in 2018, and $32,963.95 in 2019.

The total came to $175,924.72.

The booster club has two main annual fundraisers, Eaglefest, which raises about $35,000, and Eagle Madness, which raises about $20,000, according to court records.