A former Athens insurance agent accused of stealing $200,000 from his clients was sentenced Friday to serve concurrent terms of 17 months in prison for theft and four years in prison for aggravated theft, but he will be able to apply for judicial release after one year.
William Tad Cuckler, 9291 E. Bentbrook Lane, pleaded guilty to three counts of theft and one count of aggravated theft. The state dismissed five of the nine total counts against Cuckler, Judge Michael Ward said.
I have great remorse
and I'm truly sorry Cuckler said to Ward in the Athens Common Pleas Court.
Cuckler had been taking funds from clients since April 2002, and though this was the first recorded felony, he had committed theft before, prosecuting attorney Robert F. Smith said. He took $80,000 to reimburse previous thefts, and the remaining $120,000 were misappropriated, he said.
Cuckler's misdeeds were violations of his clients' trust, Smith said.
He used his relationship with each victim to facilitate each offense he said.
Smith recommended that Cuckler be sent to prison - though full restitution was made to all his victims - because the state needs to send a message to criminals that they cannot just reimburse stolen money: They need to face more severe consequences.
Despite Cuckler's offenses, several of his victims voiced their support for him in court.
Tad is not a criminal. He doesn't belong in prison
said Ruth Lochary, a former client of Cuckler's. Cuckler stole $14,000 from Lochary.
Three of the victims are before this court saying 'Don't send him to prison.' You know how many times I've seen that? Zero
K. Robert Toy, Cuckler's defense attorney, said. Additionally, 16 letters supporting Cuckler were sent to Ward, and, according to a pre-sentence investigation, Cuckler had a low level of recidivism, Toy said.
Toy argued that Cuckler should not be sent to prison because he needed to care for his 88-year-old grandmother.
Cuckler's insurance license was retracted in October, according to a press release from the Ohio Department of Insurance. He was arrested after a former client notified the department that Cuckler might be committing insurance theft.
The Department is putting wrongdoers on notice that illegal insurance activity will not be tolerated in Ohio
Ann Womer Benjamin, director of the Ohio Department of Insurance, said in the press release.
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