WARSAW — Lacy Francis Jr., former Warsaw Street Superintendent received his sentencing today, July 24, in Kosciusko Circuit Court. The case has been ongoing since December 2013, when a former employee of Pro Form contacted the City of Warsaw Clerk-Treasurer and alleged that Pro Form had been intentionally overbilling the city.

Francis was sentenced on the following charges: corrupt business influence, a class C felony; aiding theft, a class C felony; providing false information to a governmental entity to obtain a contract, a class D felony; and official misconduct, a class D felony.

Pursuant to the plea agreement, Francis received the minimum executed sentence of two years at the Indiana Department of Corrections, with suspended time served on work release and formal probation.

For each class C felony, Francis was sentenced to four years at the IDOC, and for each class D felony he was sentenced to 2 1/2 years at the IDOC, totaling 13 years.

Of the 13 year sentence, 11 years were suspended. The first four years of that suspended time will be served at the Kosciusko County Jail and may be served on work release should Francis qualify. The last five years will be served on formal probation.

Francis was ordered to pay restitution to Selective Insurance Company of America in the amount of $25,000. Francis is also expected to pay full restitution to the City of Warsaw. The first installation of payment will be taken from Francis’s retirement fund, and he will then owe the city any of the remaining balance. The case will be resolved in civil court.

Francis had no comments in the court room before being sentenced. Both prosecuting attorney Dan Hampton and Francis’s lawyer Matt Buehler spoke of how Francis destroyed the trust he had earned while working for the City of Warsaw for 23 years. When probed by Judge Michael Reed for comment Francis merely stated that his attorney had already described how he felt.

Mayor Joe Thallemer was present to hear Francis’s conviction. Thallemer made it clear that he’s not “happy” with the outcome, but glad the three-year case is over.

“It’s certainly been a difficult process,” Thallemer commented. “I give our police department and my city engineer full credit for bringing evidence in this case to light quickly, as soon as we were made aware of it…No one’s happy, just relieved that it’s finally over.”

Pro Form, owned by Marc Campbell, schemed with Francis to receive bids on multiple city contracts. After obtaining the contracts, the company intentionally overcharged the City of Warsaw for the work. The Indiana State Board of Account performed an investigation and concluded that Campbell and Francis were both “jointly and severally liable to the city of Warsaw for overpayments in the amount of $318,569.”

Campbell pled guilty in March and was sentenced to serve one year on home detention followed by five years of probation.