Former Town Employee Must Repay $280K

(CROWN POINT, Ind.) A former northwest Indiana town employee who stole nearly $300,000 from taxpayers will wear an electronic monitor for nine months and serve 39 months probation for theft and official misconduct.

Lake Superior Court Judge Thomas Stefaniak Jr. didn't give Rosemary Barath, 68, of Merrillville, Ind., prison time, in part because she has no prior criminal convictions and has repaid $80,000 of the amount she stole.

Stefaniak told the former bookkeeper in the Merrillville clerk-treasurer's office she must obtain a reverse mortgage on her home for the restitution, put herself on a "no trespass" list at all casinos within 50 miles of Merrillville, attend Gambler's Anonymous meetings two or three times a week, and pay back the money.

Until the reverse mortgage goes through, Barath must pay $1,000 a month toward her restitution, the judge said.

The crime was disheartening, Eugene Guernsey, the current clerk-treasurer, said. "Rosemary has been a trusted employee for many years," he said.

Guernsey's predecessor, Rose Ann Antich, asked for an audit after she was appointed clerk in late November 2005. In a letter to the judge, Antich said Barath, a 25-plus year town employee, was secretive and insubordinate as Antich tried to cross-train other employees in bookkeeping procedures.

Barath's responsibilities included making bank deposits, and entering and posting receipts in town ledgers.

From the witness stand, Barath said she has a monthly income of about $1,500. She has applied for, but hasn't begun receiving, her monthly $1,030 pension from the town.

Barath admitted she gambled as recently as last week at one of the casinos and told deputy prosecutor Michael Greener she felt she had "somewhat'' of a gambling problem.

Stefaniak told Barath her testimony led him to think she hasn't "really come to terms with how gambling has affected your life."

"I have, I have. I can let go," she responded.

Defense attorney Michael Lambert said his client, who has had a gambling problem for more than five years, has made a good-faith effort and is losing her pension and annuity. "I don't think she realized how deep she was in," Lambert said.

In the meantime, the Indiana Attorney General's office will monitor Barath's compliance with repaying the money and assist the town in collecting if necessary. Two of the town's insurance policies guarding against employee theft have paid about $13,030 toward the money stolen between January 2000 and July 2007.

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