Published: January 04, 2008 02:41 am      

COURTS: Ambulance company volunteer sentenced in theft

A former volunteer for the Tri-Community Ambulance Company was sentenced to probation Thursday for stealing company funds.

Lawrence Sparks, 51, 355 Davison Road, Apt. 1, was sentenced Thursday in Niagara County Court to three years probation.

Sparks, who served as treasurer for the ambulance company, admitted to using the company’s credit card to make personal purchases, including gasoline, shoes and toys, on several occasions throughout 2006.

He was arrested Jan. 26, 2007, and has been suspended from the ambulance company, where he had resigned his position as treasurer in fall 2006.

Sparks pleaded guilty Nov. 2 to petit larceny, a misdemeanor. He was originally charged with third-degree grand larceny, a felony.

Sparks was also ordered to pay $12,843 in restitution. Assistant District Attorney Brian Seaman said the ambulance company has been reimbursed through insurance, so Sparks will make his payments — a minimum of $400 a month — to the insurance company through the probation department.

During the sentencing hearing, Sparks apologized to Judge Sara Sheldon Sperrazza for his actions.

“I made a mistake,” he said. “I should not have used the credit card.”

Sperrazza told Sparks’ attorney, David Farrugia, that she had considered sentencing Sparks to jail time, especially after reading the probation department’s pre-sentence report and a letter submitted to her by Sparks’ wife.

“My only concern is that he, in some ways, perceives himself as a victim in this,” Sperrazza said. “That really bothers me.”

The letter from Sparks’ wife “blamed everyone in the world but him,” Sperrazza said.

She also expressed concern over the probation department’s report, which indicated Sparks told probation officers he had simply grabbed the ambulance company’s credit card by mistake when making purchases at stores including Payless and Toys “R” Us.

“That’s preposterous,” she said. “That’s ridiculous. That’s unacceptable.”

Sparks told Sperrazza that the ambulance company’s credit card and his personal credit card were nearly identical, but she told him that was no excuse.

“What do you think a law-abiding person might do? ... If he has two credit cards that look the same (and) one of them’s not his ... you think he might keep it in a different place?” she asked him. “When those bills came, you didn’t jump in to correct it, did you?”

Sperrazza ordered Sparks to surrender his EMT certification and to stay away from the Tri-Community premises.

She also ordered him not to hold office in any volunteer organization, scolding him for stealing from a volunteer ambulance company.

“These organizations struggle financially,” she said. “They obviously rely on the integrity of their members to survive, and you betrayed that trust.”

Contact reporter April Amadon at 439-9222, ext. 6251.