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Updated: 8/31/2009 1:35:34 PM
Knight gets one year to pay back youth league

By Art Aisner
Heritage Newspapers

Kimberly Knight will have a year to pay back as much of the money she stole from a youth hockey league in one of the largest embezzlement cases in Washtenaw County history to stay out of jail.
Despite not having all of the $160,000 court officials demanded to remain free, Washtenaw County Circuit Judge Melinda Morris upheld an agreement with the Chelsea woman and deferred sentencing by one year during a tense court hearing in downtown Ann Arbor last week
Morris ordered Knight to pay at least $1,500 per month to stay out of jail and said she must continue those payments to stay on probation for the duration of the five-year sentence.
Knight pleaded guilty to felony embezzlement charges in June for bilking nearly $934,000 from a fund operated by the Ann Arbor Amateur Hockey Association while serving as a bookkeeper between 2005 and 2007. Prosecutors dropped the most severe charge of embezzlement of more than $100,000, which carries a 20-year prison sentence, and three other felonies in exchange for her plea and full restitution, court records show.
The 45-year-old mother of three appeared in Circuit Court for sentencing Aug. 10, but requested another two weeks to help collect as much of the $160,000 that the hockey association said it needed immediately to stay solvent.
Her attorney, Michael LeGris said she could hand over $75,000 in court last week, but asked for some grace time as several checks were still in the clearing process. Morris instructed probation officials to report to her immediately if Knight’s funds had not come through within 10 days.
She also instructed Knight to sell any valuables, including her Chelsea home, and file quarterly reports from her husband’s business, where she now works but earns no pay.
If Knight’s check clears this week, she’ll still owe about $675,000 in restitution, court officials indicated.
LeGris said he is challenging nearly $83,000 of the restitution amount comprised of legal fees and fines and costs imposed on Knight by the Internal Revenue Service for failing to file tax returns on behalf of the nonprofit.
A hearing on that matter is scheduled later this month, court records show.
And Knight’s money woes don’t appear to be over as the association considers a civil lawsuit to recoup the money.
The fund was intended for construction of a hockey facility for the association, which currently operates out of the Ann Arbor Ice Cube.
Instead, a lengthy investigation by the Pittsfield Township Department of Public Safety revealed that Knight showered herself and family members with lavish gifts, including jewelry, vacations and a Cadillac Escalade.
She also established her own personal bank accounts at local banks where AAAHA money was kept to make transfers and purchases easier. Police reports show.
Karen Coulter, secretary of AAAHA’s executive board, called Knight an extraordinary thief, liar and con artist during her prepared victim’s impact statement on the organization’s behalf.
Coulter emphasized Knight’s selfish taste for the finer things, and mentioned that she conned several AAAHA officials into believing that moving bank accounts and maintaining sole control of the finances would make operations more convenient and benefit the organization.
“She is not a person desperate to pay her heating bills or buy shoes for her kids,” Coulter read aloud. “She had no qualms about taking from a nonprofit to instead create her own ideal lifestyle.”
The thrust of her comments also demonstrated the ripple effects Knight’s selfish acts had on AAAHA members and the potential to impact hockey lovers across the area.
Coulter said AAAHA still owes The Cube more than $100,000, and that the loss in game revenue, ice-time fees and other cash earnings associated with the organization could cost the facility another estimated $800,000 in annual revenue.
“She has done irreparable harm to AAAHA and the Ann Arbor community, and can go on about her life as she pleases,” Coulter said.
About two dozen AAAHA members, including several children, crammed into the standing-room only courtroom.
Knight appeared in court with her husband, one of her three children and her father, who LeGris said helped her raise part of the required restitution and nearly $221,000 previously paid to organization in 2007.
“I’m so sorry,” she uttered quickly and quietly while holding a fistful of tissues before Morris issued her ruling.
LeGris said Knight explained herself thoroughly in a written statement to the judge and probation officials, but he declined to discuss details of the statement due to what he described as an imminent civil suit from the association.
The pre-sentencing report also mentioned an issue with prescription drugs. LeGris acknowledged Knight had an issue with pain killers, but that she never used more than what was prescribed and did not use that as an excuse for her conduct.
“The situation started off small, with her taking a little bit, as these things often do,” LeGris said of the embezzlement. “And then she just took more and more and eventually became so ashamed that she couldn’t even look at the books. Avoidance took over,”
Mike Reid, vice president of AAAHA’s executive board, said the organization will explore all its options and has not reached a formal decision on civil litigation. However, an attorney representing the association attended Knight’s previous sentencing hearing.
Reid said he was disappointed with Morris’ ruling and that he and other AAAHA members were stunned by her comments that the case exposed a “human frailty” that Knight possessed once greed set in, and that the organization exhibited by lacking proper oversight.
“I took great exception to the notion that AAAHA had culpability in all this,” explained Reid, who was elected to the executive board along with new treasurer Lindsay Aspergren this spring. “Perhaps the organization failed to have the proper institutional controls in place but to say they have responsibility in this is a classic ‘blame the victim’ mentality.”
The case will likely be discussed at the next board of directors meeting, tentatively scheduled to begin 6 p.m. Sept. 21, according to the AAAHA Web site at http://aaaha.pucksystems.com.
Reid said the group has already eliminated its annual scholarship program for kids and is also slashing instructional programs this year.
“In some ways, it’s extraordinary satisfying to know that we’ll have hockey this year, but it won’t be for all the kids who want to play, and that’s what’s so unfortunate,” Reid said.