Embezzlement: The crime where you don't do the time

'Cause they told me when I was younger, "Boy, you're gonna be president." But just like everything else those old crazy dreams just kinda came and went.

FEB. 9, 2010: Back in 2007 when the bookkeeper at the Watertown Urban Mission was convicted of embezzling more than $20,000, my first reaction was: Hey, great news! After decades of struggling to make ends meet, the Urban Mission finally has enough money to steal!

But the people behind the effort to expand the services of the Urban Mission weren't in a laughing mood for one interesting reason: After pressing charges, they learned that the person who clipped them for all that cash had allegedly done the same thing at another Watertown nonprofit. That agency's leaders didn't prosecute; they just accepted a resignation. Thus, when the person's resume showed up at Urban Mission, no red flags were seen.

And just what happens to you if you steal $20,000 from a nonprofit?

Unless you embezzle several hundred thousand dollars and find yourself in federal court, you can expect to get probation and an order to reimburse the injured party. In other words, this is the crime that gets you no jail time.

Here is a list of some of the people who in the last two years who have not gone to jail after using their bookkeeping position to steal money:

— Mary A. Siver-Walters, $17,500 from the Watertown Morning Rotary Club.

■ Karen S. Calhoun, $17,500 from the Jefferson County Sheriff's Employees Local 3089, AFL-CIO.

— Norma Fanning, $6,342 from Steelworkers Union Local 503.

— Lisa A. Staie, $8,163 from the Greater Watertown Pop Warner Association.

— Barbara M. Morpaw, $8,806 from the West Potsdam Fire Department Auxiliary.

— Christina M. Cunningham, $6,925 from the Oxbow Volunteer Fire Department.

(For those who are gender sensitive, a Watertown Times survey of north country embezzlement cases a few years ago showed that more women than men are arrested for embezzling, while men steal more money before they are caught).

You can find somebody in any city or village who will tell you a story about a business, church or civic group that suddenly realized a trusted employee or member was making unauthorized withdrawals. But there's no way to know for sure if more businesses and nonprofits these days are calling the cops rather than keeping things quiet if the embezzler can make restitution.

Too often, a business or nonprofit is embarrassed by the incident and wants it — and the thief — to go away quietly.

Hopefully, there are fewer cases like the one at Urban Mission. And maybe our legal system should consider a little jail time as well. Yes, I know — the embezzlers did not steal the money violently, and suspects might not be willing to plead guilty if they realize they will have to serve jail time, even if it is just on weekends.

But right now we have embezzler after embezzler only getting probation after stealing thousands of dollars — much of it from nonprofits trying to help the least among us.

After a while, it just doesn't seem that the punishment fits the crime.