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State v. Crudup6/9/2005
I. Background
The charges against Defendant arose out of a series of unauthorized purchases Defendant made with a credit card issued to him by the City of Lebanon while he was employed as the purchasing agent for the city. According to the investigations conducted by the Lebanon Police Department and the Tennessee Division of Municipal Audits, Defendant made over one hundred unauthorized purchases between 1999 and 2002, totaling approximately $40,239. The items purchased in these transactions were used by Defendant personally as well as in his photography business and his church. The investigation further concluded that Defendant attempted to conceal his activities by either not revealing the purpose of the purchase on the purchase order or by altering or recording false information on the purchase order.
According to the pretrial diversion report, Defendant holds an associate of science degree in banking and general technology from Nashville State Technical Institute and has been steadily employed since leaving the army in 1983. Defendant is an ordained minister of the Worldwide Abundant Life Fellowship Church and a member of various professional organizations. Defendant submitted numerous certificates with his pretrial diversion report commemorating his contributions to the community. Defendant was a member of the armed forces from 1976 to 1983 and received a Commendation Medal for "meritorious service" in 1982. However, Defendant was court-martialed in 1983 for receiving $2,000 for services relating to an official matter. The United States Court of Military Appeals affirmed the conviction, and Defendant was given a bad conduct discharge.
Defendant submitted a spread sheet to the prosecutor detailing the purchases he made with the city's credit card between 1999 and 2002. Defendant either detailed the purpose of the purchase or stated that there was "no explanation" for the purchase. According to Defendant's calculations, the reasons for only $7,790 of the purchases during this time period could not be explained, and these purchases occurred over a two-year period rather than the four years alleged by the State.
In its letter denying pretrial diversion, the prosecutor listed several factors that favored the granting of pretrial diversion including Defendant's community work, his membership in several "worthy organizations," his various achievement awards, and his employment history. The prosecutor, however, found four unfavorable factors: "(1) he Defendant has a previous history of abusing a public trust in the military; (2) the amounts of money taken from the taxpayers was in the thousands of dollars; (3) he abused a position of trust as the purchasing agent for the City of Lebanon; and (4) the number of occasions of converting the city credit card to his own use and enrichment show a pattern over a long period of time of disdain for the law."
In determining that these factors outweighed Defendant's positive attributes, the prosecutor stated:
The Defendant's conduct in abusing the city credit card and converting the items bought his own use and his church over a four-year-period cannot be overlooked. It shows a pattern of criminal enterprise that was a wrong committed against society as whole. It is clear that this was not a one-time lapse of judgment. The Defendant committed these acts over a lengthy period of time and had numerous opportunities to end this illegal conduct. Rather than end this conduct, the Defendant took steps to conceal the unauthorized purchases by leaving blank or false purposes for these purchases. The Defendant [benefitted] greatly at the expense of society. He abused a position of trust. This is th
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