By David Slone
Times-Union

WARSAW — The city of Warsaw’s cumulative capital development fund has been repaid $200,000 from an embezzlement case that goes back over nine years.

Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer told the common council at their meeting Monday night, April 17, “It’s a check we received from the Indiana state’s attorney general. This is money that was repaid from Marc Campbell from the problem we had several years ago. So this is an amount we have recovered.”

The money was put back into the CCD fund because that’s where the money originally came from, he said. City Attorney Scott Reust said the money was “embezzled” from the fund.
On March 25, 2014, formal charges were brought against former Warsaw Public Works Superintendent Lacy Francis Jr. and two employees of ProForm Pipe Lining Inc., Marc V. Campbell and Kevin R. Brown. In August 2017, prosecutors dropped all charges against Brown, who had been the field manager for Pipe Pro Form.

ProForm was a longtime contractor for the city. The charges were in relation to the city being billed for work never done on pipe lining projects totaling over $250,000. The city received anonymous information Dec. 23, 2013, alleging overbilling by ProForm. Thallemer launched an investigation Dec. 24, 2013, according to a previous Times-Union article. A number of felony charges were filed against the men.

Campbell pleaded guilty in January 2017 and was sentenced to one year of home detention and five years on probation, according to another previous article. Francis was sentenced to 13 years in the Indiana Department of Correction with 11 suspended. Mildred Francis, Lacy’s then-wife, had six counts of money laundering in connection to the scandal filed against her, and in October 2018 she pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Each of the defendants was ordered to pay restitution and the city filed a lawsuit Sept. 12, 2018, seeking damages from Mildred for $955,707. On Sept. 4, 2018, a judgement for damages for $955,707 was entered against Lacy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of Indiana, South Bend Division. By reason of Mildred’s plea agreement and the judgment against Lacy, the Sept. 12, 2018, lawsuit stated the city was entitled to judgement against Mildred also for the same amount.

After Monday’s council meeting, Thallemer said the $200,000 repaid to the city was collected from Campbell by Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita.

“The state’s attorney general sued Marc Campbell as a plaintiff. ProForm was a plaintiff. Marc Campbell and ProForm settled at mediation for the $350,000,” Reust said. “And as I recall – I don’t have that agreement in front of me – the agreement was, and the city agreed, the State Board of Accounts would get their money first and then the remaining money would come to the city of Warsaw.”

Thallemer said there’s been several ways the money has been recovered – collection, garnishment of Mildred’s and Lacy’s wages – “so there’s several ways that this money is being collected. This was just a portion that the attorney general went after Marc Campbell for.”

He said there’s money still to come, but it has to be “painstakingly” collected.

Reust estimates the agreement with Campbell for him to pay the money back came about four years ago or so. Thallemer said the judgements have all been finalized, it’s just the collection process now.

Reust said when all of this first came to light, the Warsaw Police Department “did a really, really good job of investigating it. I remember Bryan Sherwin was really involved in the investigation. They worked with Dan Hampton in the prosecutor’s office, and there was some seizures of equipment, vehicles and that was forfeited to help pay the costs of the law enforcement part – it was an extensive investigation.”

Thallemer said the $200,000 was just an amount the city received, but it’s been the largest amount the city has received at one time. Reust said he was grateful for the attorney general’s efforts in the case.