Kim Smith of Grand Marais, 43, pled guilty March 9, 2010 at the Cook County courthouse to four felony counts of theft by check and reappeared in court on April 7 for sentencing. Each count carried a maximum sentence of 10 years and/or a $20,000 fine, however the sentence Smith received was much less severe. Four other counts of theft by check were dismissed.
Smith was one-third owner of Gunflint Realty, started in 2003 with Tim Kennedy and Vickie Wenz. A January 2009 statement of probable cause contends that Smith issued pre-signed checks to herself from Gunflint Realty without authorization and then hid the amounts from her business partners by “doctoring the check register and the QuickBooks register.” The statement says Smith was in charge of the company’s accounting and books. The checks were written between January 2005 and June 2007 in an amount totaling $71,173.
Kennedy and Wenz discovered the missing funds in March 2008, after Kennedy received a call from the North Shore Federal Credit Union saying that there was a problem with the realty company’s account. Smith was on vacation, so Kennedy and Wenz looked at their records and found a discrepancy in account balances. Company policy requires two signatures to cash any check dealing with company business, court documents state.
Some of the checks were written on “counter checks” sometimes used when a new account is started but official checks have not been printed yet. Counter checks can be printed at a credit union or bank and used until the officialchecks arrive.
On January 9, 2009, Kennedy reported the theft to law enforcement and signed an affidavit claiming Smith had cashed eight unauthorized checks. Theamount of the four checks Smith did not plead guilty to totaled $18,486.
At the April 7 sentencing, Kennedy and Wenz gave victim impact statements, with Wenz speaking first, as a founder and co-owner of Gunflint Realty LLC. Wenz said, “I never had reason to doubt her sincerity or I would not have invested my savings in a partnership that included her…I didn’t want to believe Kim had lied to me and stole money that I also had worked to earn. As the totals climbed higher, the number became ridiculous to the point that I was sure we, our accountant, and our bank must be mistaken. If only that were true.”
Wenz said over the past year she has had to defend her company and herself to the Department of Commerce, local media, clients, her family and curious local residents. “Thankfully, over the past year, I have learned that once you get over feeling victimized, you become stronger.”
However, Wenz added that she was frustrated that after the sentence is imposed she and Kennedy have the additional expense of removing Smith as a partner in the company. “My only compensation will be half share of $200 a month in restitution. Paid according to plan, I’ll receive the final payment when I’m 84 years old.”
Kennedy, broker and co-owner of Gunflint Realty LLC, also spoke. He said he still has a hard time understanding how a partner and trusted friend could “so intentionally deceive, steal, and cover up her criminal acts at our expense.”
Kennedy said that Smith has shown no remorse for her acts. “A simple ‘sorry’ would go a long way,” he said, finishing his statement by saying, “In closing, I want this whole ordeal to be settled and brought to an end. But realistically I know it won’t end for Vicki and me or for Kim. This is one of those painful life experiences that will linger on.”
County Attorney Tim Scannell agreed to the following sentence: 10 years probation with a stay of adjudication; one year jail time by staggered sentence over a period of four years, serving 90 days up front subject to the Sentenceto Serve program for at least two days a week or full-time Huber release, provided she fits the sheriff ’s criteria; a fine of $50 plus surcharges and fees; restitution of $50,000 in monthly payments of $200; completion of a cognitive skills class, chemical dependency treatment, and a personal finance class; relinquishment of her real estate license; removal of all advertisements referencing her as a real estate agent or the like; completion of a pre-sentence investigation and a requirement that she follow all other reasonable and standard terms of probation.
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