Zachary pleads guilty, must repay city

6:12 p.m. update:

Less than a week before his jury trial on 18 charges was slated to begin, Trevor Zachary pleaded guilty to four offences relating to his former job as the Essar Centre's marketing and events manager.

Zachary, 43, entered the guilty pleas Wednesday before Superior Court Justice Norman Karam at the Sault Ste. Marie courthouse.

The North Bay judge granted him a conditional discharge, which means no convictions were registered, and he will not have a criminal record.

Zachary will be on probation for six months, must make $20,000 restitution to the city of Sault Ste. Marie and must perform 40 hours of community service.

He pleaded not guilty to three counts of fraud over $5,000, but guilty to the lesser included offence of fraud under $5,000, and guilty to a single count of forgery.

The offences were alleged to have occurred between Jan.1, 2009 and May 31, 2013. He was charged in September 2013.

A jury was scheduled to begin hearing the case, which was expected to last two to three months, on Monday.

The pleas were the result of a pre-trial conference Karam conducted last week with defence counsel Bruce Willson and prosecutor David Kirk.

Willson said that as a result of the pre-trial, the defence offered to enter pleas of guilt on these charges and the Crown agreed.

This "resulted in no criminal record and he (Zachary) can now move on with his life," the defence said in an interview.

Kirk had no comment.

Zachary echoed his lawyer, saying he is pleased that he will have no criminal record.

"At the end of the day it is a big relief," he said, noting this has been hanging over his head for four years and has been stressful for himself and family.

"My family has been through a lot financially and emotionally."

Zachary said he received a tremendous amount of support from his family, friends, and employers, as well as from Willson "guiding us through this."

The court heard Wednesday that an internal financial review had identified several irregularities and suspicious spending stemming from Zachary's duties managing the city's recreational facilities.

Zachary, who had been employed with the city since 2006, had a personal corporate credit card and could make purchases on behalf of the city.

His credit card reconciliations were submitted monthly, reviewed by superiors, and paid by the city, the Crown indicated. 

Zachary also had purchasing authority through a marketing account, which was paid through accounts payable and the city's finance department.

He made unauthorized purchases, outside his authority, that were not justified expenditures for the city, the Crown said in a plea synopsis presented to the court.

The individual transactions ranged from $50 to $1,000.

The court also heard Zachary managed facilities that generated money for the municipality, and during his employment defrauded the city of potential revenues through the unauthorized use of the facilities. 

Zachary created false invoices to support his expenses and to mislead his employer as to the actual nature of the expenditures, the Crown said, indicating there is evidence that they were created on his work computer.

The invoices were related to 3 on 3 Open Ice Hockey, Embers Grill and Smokehouse, Comfort Suites and Algoma University.

The total loss to the city for all the charges was $20,000, Karam was told.

Willson said the judge found in the defence's favour, calling it very marginal, not a serious case of fraud.

He suggested one of the reasons for that was the fact that Zachary never took any money from the city.

Willson said his client was getting the city to pay for the VIP suite at the Essar and that money went to the Greyhounds. 

Food and beverages in the suite were charged to the city, which got the money, he said.

"The money was not going in his (Zachary's) pocket. It was going to the major tenant or back to the city," he said. "He didn't buy something with it personally."

Willson maintained "this all had something to do with him promoting his job."

"I think the city should hire this guy back," he suggested.

Zachary did a good job, the defence added, conceding he may have stepped over boundaries but more lines should be drawn.

2:43 p.m. original story:

Trevor Zachary pleaded guilty this morning to four charges in connection with his former job as the Essar Centre's marketing and events manager.

Following his guilty charges, Superior Court Justice Norman Karam granted him a conditional discharge, placed him on probation for six months, and ordered him to pay $20,000 restitution to the city of Sault Ste. Marie, and perform 40 hours of community service.

Zachary pleaded not guilty to three counts of fraud over $5,000, but guilty to the lesser offence of fraud under $5,000, and guilty to a single count of forgery.

More to come . . . 

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