- April 18, 2024
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A three-day, non-jury trial involving allegations against Patricia Wasmuth, who faces charges of grand theft from her former employer, the Family Life Center in Bunnell, is nearly complete.
Wasmuth is charged with fraudulently using Family Life Center resources while working as a bookkeeper and office manager for the nonprofit organization, which supports victims of domestic violence.
She’s accused of stealing more than $20,000 of money and resources from the organization, in the form of transitional housing she occupied at no cost, a vehicle and unwarranted paychecks.
Circuit Judge Raul Zambrano presided over the trial. After both the prosecution and defense rested Thursday, Zambrano gave attorneys a Nov. 28 deadline for submitting their closing arguments in writing. He will announce a verdict Dec. 11, taking into consideration defense attorney John Tanner’s motion for acquittal of the case on the grounds of insufficient evidence.
The case against Wasmuth inevitably touched issues raised in an open lawsuit against Diana Kindt, the former executive director of the Family Life Center and Wasmuth’s sister.
Both Wasmuth and Kindt were fired from their positions at Family Life Center in 2010 following investigations into fraudulent uses of Family Life Center funding.
Kindt, who is a awaiting trial, is charged with grand theft in an amount greater than $50,000 from the center.
Wasmuth testified that any fraud or theft she may have committed was done in ignorance. Her sister told her that as a domestic violence victim, she qualified for everything she took, and Wasmuth said she took Kindt at her word.
But prosecutor Melissa Clark argued that because Wasmuth worked as a bookkeeper for the nonprofit organization, she knew that she was misusing the center’s resources.
“It’s not like she walked in off the street and didn’t understand protocol,” Clark said.
Wasmuth moved into a transitional housing unit operated by the center in February 2010 and lived there at no cost until September 2010, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Residents of housing funded by grants from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development — as the unit in question is — are required to attend counseling sessions, to pay part of their rent based on their ability and to pay utilities.
Wasmuth did none of this, prosecution said.
Wasmuth said Kindt told her that of the Family Life Center’s five transitional housing units, only the one Wasmuth lived in was fully funded by the center itself and not from HUD funding. Wasmuth said she was told she didn’t need to pay rent because of this.
Patricia Giaccone, who is the Family Life Center’s current executive director, once managed all five of the organization’s housing units will working under Kindt as program director for the center.
Kindt told Giaccone in August 2009 that she would no longer be in charge of one of the units, and that Kindt would instead handle it for a “high profile” case, according to the affidavit. That unit was eventually occupied by Wasmuth and her daughter.
Soon after she moved in to the unit, Wasmuth was hired by her sister as bookkeeper and office manager for the center, earning a $38,000 salary. Still, she paid no rent, prosecution said.
Wasmuth said Kindt assured her that because the center’s primary goal was to stand with victims of domestic violence, her stay in the unit was permissible despite being an employee of the center.
She and her sister didn’t disclose their relationship to other employees, Wasmuth said, because they wanted her to have a chance to succeed on her own.
Wasmuth was also questioned about her use of a car donated to the center for the transportation of domestic violence victims to and from appointments or for other staff needs.
Once Wasmuth started working for the center, she began using the vehicle to get to and from work. Eventually, she traded it in for a new car.
Tanner said the use of the car was acceptable not only because Wasmuth was using it to get to work, but also because she was a victim of domestic violence herself, and would have qualified for relief from the center.
Providing transportation to victims is a common practice for agencies similar to the Family Life Center because it helps them become economically self-sufficient, he said.
But Clark argued that the trade-in was an unauthorized use of Family Life Center property.
Wasmuth again said she was told by her sister that her actions were justified.
Finally, the court questioned a check written to Wasmuth in January 2010 for $599, one dollar below the IRS 1099 income reporting threshold.
The check was for training Wasmuth underwent in preparation for her new job, which she started on Feb. 16 of that year, Tanner said.
Clark countered that not only was this before her hire date of Feb. 1, but also that Wasmuth was not in the center long enough to account for how much she was paid, according to testimonies from other Family Life Center employees.
As the defense’s arguments drew to a close Thursday, the court’s attention lingered on Wasmuth’s status of a domestic violence victim.
She’s been abused her entire life, she said, choking up. Her sister was trying to help her, just as the center would help any victim.
Dr. Judy K. Wilson, the chief executive officer of the Ocala Sexual Violence and Assault Center said that, in light of Wasmuth’s history, she qualified as a domestic violence victim and would be eligible for victim resources. Linda Osmundson, executive director of Community Action Stops Abuse in St. Petersburg, said the same.
“She’s been a victim pretty much her whole life,” Osmundson said. “It could be that she never gets over it. Someone who isn’t a survivor might not understand the escalated level of fear she has in her life.”
As such, Wasmuth said she thought her actions were all justified. She was just trying to get back on her feet, she said.
But Giaccone insisted that, as bookkeeper, Wasmuth would be well aware of the Family Life Center’s protocol and grants’ mandates. She prepared invoices for transitional housing units monthly, so she had to know she was the only person not paying toward rent, Giaccone said.
The verdict of the case hinges on Zambrano’s assessment of Wasmuth’s intent.
“If my brother decides to give me a check for $500 and I accept that check, is that theft?” he asked.
He said he will take the month before a verdict is rendered to look over documents and evidence presented by both attorneys before reaching a decision.
