Eric C. Haviland must repay his ex--employer for embezzling more than $220,000 from the Cheyenne--based chain.

By Michael Van Cassell
mcassell@wyomingnews.com


CHEYENNE - A judge ruled Monday that a Colorado Springs, Colo., man accused of embezzling more than $220,000 during a three--year period while working at a local business will spend four to five years in prison.

Eric C. Haviland also will have to repay the money he admits stealing to Taco John's International Inc. and spend 10 years on probation for three felony larceny counts, Laramie County District Judge Peter G. Arnold ruled.

Haviland, dressed in a suit and speaking quietly, told Arnold he accepted responsibility for his actions.

The defendant described being unemployed and going into $80,000 in credit card debt before taking a job at Taco John's.

His wife at the time refused to live in Wyoming, so the family bought a home in Colorado, Haviland said.

When he began to catch up on credit card payments, he fell behind on the home loan and began to receive foreclosure notices, he told the court.

"I have a difficult time putting into words the desperation I felt," Haviland said.

The embezzlement took place between August 2003 and July 2006 and involved gift checks, according to court documents.

Charges were filed against Haviland in April 2007, and he pleaded guilty six months later.

Haviland's attorney, Donald Miller, said it was the result of a lifestyle his client couldn't financially maintain.

"He saw a little way out," Miller said of Haviland. "Then it became a bigger way, a larger way, a greater way, and then it became a $200,000 way."

Miller said he and prosecutors agreed that 36 to 40 months in prison and 10 years of probation would be an appropriate sentence.

Arnold confirmed with Haviland that he held a bachelor of science, a master of business administration and had come from a good home.

The judge then pointed to two young men in custody awaiting their hearings and asked Haviland if believed they had the same. Haviland said he suspected they did not.

"I'm trying to figure out why I shouldn't treat you more severely than them," Arnold then told Haviland.

The judge said there is an inequality that exists in society, and that Haviland took money from his employer "just as if (he'd) been standing next to them at the airport and picked their pocket."

Arnold said he did not feel 36 to 40 months in prison was an adequate punishment for taking more than $200,000, and sentenced Haviland to four to five years in prison.

"It's a fair sentence," Laramie County District Attorney Scott Homar said after the hearing. "It gives him lots of time to pay back the restitution but gives him some punishment."

After the sentencing, Miller said that a longer probation period increases the chance of successful restitution.

"I want to see people back to work," Miller said.