Hungry Horse News

The former treasurer of the Meadow Lake Homeowners Association was sentenced Feb. 3 to 20 years in prison with 15 suspended for his role in embezzling more than $122,000 from the group's road maintenance fund.

Theodore Hodges, 65, had pleaded guilty Dec. 30 to one count of theft and one count of forgery.

District Court Judge Stewart Stadler also ordered Hodges to pay $122,600 in restitution and $300 in surcharges.

Flathead County Attorney Ed Corrigan requested a 20-year sentence with 10 suspended, but Hodges' public defender, David Stufft, recommended 20 years with all suspended.

According to court records, Hodges allegedly wrote 85 checks totaling more than $122,000 to "cash," "Ted Hodges" or "Glacier Bank" between November 1996 and May 2003 and deposited the money in his personal checking account.

Amended charges filed May 5 last year alleged Hodges forged his wife's name on a $8,385 check from Minnesota Life Insurance Co. and a $3,300 check from Transamerica Life Insurance Co.

Hodges fled Columbia Falls in October 2003 after the homeowners association became suspicious and asked to look at its financial records, but his family tracked him down in Canada and informed the police of his whereabouts.

Canadian authorities arrested him at a Calgary motel Dec. 29, 2003, and charged him with violating the Canadian Immigration Act. He was brought across the border Jan. 5 last year and has been in Flathead County jail since then.

Leonard Mitchell, the homeowners association's president, questioned how Hodges is expected to pay restitution, saying "he's basically broke and won't likely be hired in a good-paying job."

The association put a lien on his house, Mitchell said, but Hodges' wife, who had nothing to do with the thefts, is a co-owner of the home and still resides there.

Mitchell said Hodges was in charge of money set aside for street maintenance by the members of the Meadow Lake Homeowners Association.