A former official of Earl Faulkner American Legion Post 6 pleaded guilty on Wednesday to five counts of first-degree theft for draining $370,000 from the group’s bank accounts.
Richard Charles Ekstedt, 58, of Marysville is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 15 by Snohomish County Superior Court Judge James Allendoerfer.
Ekstedt was adjutant record keeper for the Everett post and was in charge of accounts from 2002 to 2004. During that period, prosecutors said he systematically made withdrawals from a $370,000 account – sometimes more than $12,000 at a time – and spent the money for uses.
When the post’s commander, George Brown, checked on the account in February, he discovered it had only $18 left in it.
The money came from the sale of the Legion’s building in downtown Everett and was to have been used for programs that support youths and for scholarships, Brown said. It also was intended as an investment to buy another home for the post.
The organization has been a guest of the Everett Elks Lodge since the sale of its building on Wetmore Avenue.
Before Marysville and Everett police began their investigation, Ekstedt told Brown the bulk of the nest egg had been placed in an investment account when he needed some cash for post business, court documents say. Ekstedt then told him he couldn’t withdraw from the investment because of an IRS hold on the account.
When Brown called the IRS, he found there was no such hold.
In early March, Ekstedt wrote to Brown saying the defendant had some mental health problems and the account was empty “because he had gambled it all,” papers say.
Several people connected with the post were in court Wednesday when Ekstedt pleaded guilty.
Current adjutant Kal Leichtman said the post appears to be doing OK, although he’s still trying to clean up some of the aftermath of the embezzlement. For example, Leichtman just wrote a letter to the IRS asking the federal agency to forgive about $1,100 in interest and penalties because Ekstedt failed to pay employment taxes.
Deputy prosecutor Tim Geraghty said he will ask for a little more than a year behind bars for Ekstedt – just over the length of time that will require him to go to a state prison rather than the county jail.
Legion post officials don’t think the law is tough enough.
“In my belief, it should be more (prison time), but it’s better than nothing,” Leichtman said.
Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.
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