The Rancho Adobe fire captain who embezzled more than $63,000 from his union was sent to jail Tuesday.
Michael Scott Bechtold, 39, used the cash for a number of things including a trip to Disneyland and San Jose Sharks season tickets, according to the Press Democrat.
The former union president sobbed as Judge Kenneth Gnoss announced the sentence that included a year behind bars followed by five years' probation.
“You certainly have punished yourself in the public eye,” Gnoss told Bechtold, who was dressed in a blue jail uniform. “You can't go back to the fire department. That must be sort of painful.”
Bechtold, a firefighter for 20 years, did not speak. But his lawyer, Kathleen Pozzi, said he was embarrassed and remorseful.
In a letter to the judge, Bechtold said he stole the money to pay off “never-ending debt” that followed his divorce and orders to make child-support payments. He said his plan was to slowly pay back the money after he reestablished himself.
Bechtold asked to be released on probation or given electronic home confinement.
“I had no intention of hurting anybody,” he said in a Probation Department report. “I just want to start my life over.”
But prosecutor Amy Ariyoshi said he seemed more sorry for himself than the victims – 11 employees of the Rancho Adobe Firefighters Association.
She backed a probation recommendation that he serve 12 months in jail followed by probation.
