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Cape man gets 15 years for embezzling more than $14 million

E-mail|Link|Comments () June 23, 2009 06:26 PM

By Jonathan Saltzman, Globe Staff

A Cape Cod man who admitted embezzling more than $14 million from his former employer in Natick and his church in Dennis was sentenced today to 15 years in federal prison today after victims of the massive theft told a judge he had betrayed their trust and affection.

Jeffrey S. Windle, 42, of Harwich received a sentence that exceeded even what prosecutors had sought after US District Court Judge George A. O'Toole Jr. heard a series of wrenching statements from a representative of Windle's former employer, Cambium Learning, which provides educational materials for special-needs students, and members of the Congregational Church of South Dennis.

"I still cannot believe that the Jeff Windle I thought I knew and respected could stoop so low," said Paul Karhu, the moderator of the church, from which Windle embezzled $647,016 from September 2003 through April 2008 while serving as volunteer treasurer.

Windle pleaded guilty on March 10 to a 24-count indictment that alleged that theft from the church as well as a theft of $13.4 million from Cambium, which had employed him as its budget director. He used the money he stole to buy expensive houses in Florida and Massachusetts and high-priced pleasure boats and cars.

Assistant US Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz had urged the judge to sentence Windle to 14 years in prison, citing the sophistication of his embezzlement and a criminal record that included a 1997 conviction for filing false tax returns.

Windle's lawyer, John M. Moscardelli of Boston, pleaded for leniency and recommended a sentence of 7 1/2 years in prison, saying his client has been diagnosed with psychological problems and was deeply ashamed and apologetic.

But O'Toole said he was exceeding the government's recommendation because of Windle's criminal history and the fact that the defendant committed his crimes over a period of more than three years.

"This was a very, very serious crime, a series of crimes," O'Toole said. "This was not a crime of opportunity."

Clad in a tan jumpsuit from the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility in Rhode Island, Windle apologized in a brief statement that he delivered in a soft voice before he broke down.

"The guilt, the sorrow, the shame I feel is unimaginable," he said.