Gary "Keith" Atchley, a former Olympian Village alderman, has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for embezzling from the city. He also was ordered to pay $187,252.60 in restitution to the small town, which is several miles east of De Soto, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported.
Atchley, 54 was sentenced Wednesday (Feb. 13) by U.S. Eastern District Court Judge Henry Autrey, the report said.
Atchley, who served as an Olympian Village alderman from about 2008 to 2016, used city funds to buy approximately $58,000 in personal merchandise with pre-authorized debit transactions, and wrote $127,000 in checks from the city’s account for his own benefit, according to court records.
Those purchases were not authorized by the Olympian Village government, and at no time was Atchley authorized as a “signatory” of municipal accounts, the report said.
“On one or more occasions between approximately March 2013 and December 2016, Atchley knowingly and intentionally used (an Olympian Village account) to pay personal expenses, including making out checks to cash, which he then negotiated, by writing checks to himself,” according to the plea agreement in the case.
When Atchley was indicted in spring 2018, a U.S. Attorney’s Office spokeswoman said the Olympian Village city clerk discovered the fraud when a check drawn on the city’s operating account bounced and the city clerk reviewed the bank statement and found the misappropriation.
The case was investigated by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
“I’m thankful we have a U.S. Attorney that has been aggressive in addressing these types of crimes,” Jefferson County Sheriff Dave Marshak said in a U.S. Attorney’s Office press release. “I commend the detectives and agent that worked hard to bring this case to a successful resolution. Stealing from this community is unacceptable and I’m glad he is being held accountable.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Gwen Carroll handled the case.