PORTLAND, Maine — Disgraced former charity president Russell “Rusty” Brace was sentenced Friday morning to four years in federal prison for stealing more than $4.6 million from the nonprofit organization over a 15-year period.
U.S. District Judge George Singal said Brace, 82, decided to steal from the charity rather than face the loss of prestige by going through bankruptcy because of his failing businesses.
“The victims were the poorest in the community,” Judge Singal said as Brace sat showing no emotion during the hourlong hearing in U.S. District Court in Portland. He also had no visible reaction when Singal handed down the sentence.
“Rusty Brace is the walking definition of a con man,” the treasurer of the charity, Eric Belley said in addressing the court before sentencing.
The theft was of an exceptional magnitude and was the largest theft from a nonprofit in Maine history, Belley said.
The treasurer asked how many people went hungry because the food bank did not receive money, or were cold in their homes during harsh winters, or contemplated suicide or endured domestic violence because there was not money to support the services they needed.
“He had 15 years of living high at the expense of those in need,” Belley said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Don Clark said Brace was not the typical offender seen in court.
“He had all the advantages of intelligence, wealth and power,” Clark said.
He said the people who did not have those advantages were the victims while Brace and his family lived an extravagant lifestyle. The amount stolen each year equaled how much the charity was giving, Clark pointed out.
Brace’s wife and daughters were at the hearing and had submitted letters in support of him. His daughter Pamela Delehey said Brace was a good father and asked that he be given an opportunity to spend his final days with his family.
Brace spoke on his own behalf and said people who said he showed no remorse were wrong. He said he has experienced remorse on a daily basis.
The prosecutor pointed out, however, that when Brace was confronted by the charity leaders last year, he initially asked them to keep it quiet. He said Brace also tried to destroy some evidence, though he eventually confessed when contacted by law enforcement officials.
Charity Board President Stephen Crane told the judge that Brace never apologized to the community for his actions and instead sent out letters to some area residents asking them to speak out or write letters to the judge on his behalf before the sentencing.
Citing his client’s age and health problems, defense attorney Peter DeTroy had asked that Brace be sentenced to 18 months in prison and to 18 months of home confinement. DeTroy provided a letter from Brace’s doctor, who said Brace is at a greater risk for falls because of two recent knee replacements. Brace also suffers from high blood pressure, hyperlipidemia and hypothyroidism, and he is pre-diabetic, according to the doctor’s letter. He also has suffered from depression during the past year.
Brace was allowed to go free until 2 p.m. Nov. 4, when he will have to report to a federal prison as directed by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. Singal directed that the prison have a medical facility to care for Brace.
Brace will be on supervised release for two years after his release from prison.
Brace pleaded guilty May 29 to one count of mail fraud affecting a financial institution and two counts of tax fraud and making false statements in connection with the thefts of donations to the charity that began in 1999 and ended when he stepped down as president in August 2014.
Brace has reimbursed the charity slightly more than $1 million in the past year through the seizing of his bank accounts, the sale of his downtown Camden commercial building and the sale of personal properties including a boat and car. His homes in Rockport and Rangeley are for sale and the net proceeds will go to the charity.
The charity reached a settlement with The First Bank but that deal was confidential. In court Friday, however, the judge ordered Brace to repay Traveler’s Insurance $1,230,730. The prosecutor said that the insurance company covered the bank’s payment to the charity.
Brace was depositing checks earmarked for the charity in an account he opened at The First Bank, which was a tenant of Brace’s Camden building.
Brace was also ordered to repay the charity an additional $2,167,000.
The charity and Brace had reached an agreement in April in which Brace agreed to repay the organization the more than $4.8 million in donations earmarked for the charity that he stole during his lengthy tenure as president of the board.
Both DeTroy and the charity have said they expect in the end that they would recoup about 65 percent of what was stolen.
Referring to the letters submitted by Brace’s family, Judge Singal said they pointed out that one of Brace’s favorite sayings was that there are always five solutions to a problem. Singal said that in this case, Brace did not follow his creed.