Man sentenced for making unauthorized purchases while president of local theater group

A Clearfield man accused of making unauthorized purchases while serving as the president of the board of directors for a local theater group was sentenced Tuesday in Clearfield County Court.

William John Grigsby, 28, of Clearfield, pleaded guilty to two felony counts of theft by deception. President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman sentenced him to 30 days to one year in jail and one year consecutive probation. He must complete 50 hours of community service.

Prior to sentencing, he paid $4,600 in restitution and apologized.

Clearfield Arts Studio Theatre board member Shawn Inlow addressed the court for the group, saying, “We trusted Bill.” He said Grigsby “did a lot of work” and “helped us get back on our feet.”

Inlow explained that this was not about the jail time, but that the members of CAST did not want Grigsby to be able to do this to another nonprofit organization.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, two board members contacted police on Oct. 27 with information on the thefts allegedly committed by Grigsby. A statement written by one of the board members explained that Grigsby was both the president and treasurer for CAST when he allegedly used its funds for his personal needs. He made withdrawals from the group’s building fund, totaling $2,244.90, and also used the CAST Visa card several times, totaling $2,293.74. The bills on this credit card were paid using funds from the CAST checking account, police said.

The transactions were discovered after a new treasurer was appointed at the annual reorganization meeting in September. On Oct. 12, an executive committee meeting was held prior to the regular meeting to investigate the charges. During the meeting, Grigsby made no admission, but allegedly sent a text to the CAST executive committee afterward, admitting he had been stealing funds.

A list of the transactions in the affidavit shows purchases for as much as $414.86 at Walmart and as little as $1.25 for a beverage. The charges began in January 2016 and ended in late September. The grand total is $4,565.98, according to the report.

In October, CAST released a statement from current board of directors President Steve Albert, saying, “Despite this unfortunate event, CAST is in a positive financial position. We look forward to continued growth and success by providing high quality arts opportunities to our community.”

In September 2015, CAST had a debt of $18,000 and needed to pay a tax payment of more than $2,000 before the end of the month to prevent its buildings from being sold. The former board members all resigned and a new board was elected. This group was able to pay off the tax debt and lead a resurgence of the organization. Grigsby was, at that time, one of the key people involved in saving CAST, according to previous reports.

This story was originally published July 19, 2017 at 12:25 AM with the headline "Man sentenced for making unauthorized purchases while president of local theater group."