Tracy Murnane was sentenced in Delaware County Common Pleas Court after he pleaded guilty July 8 to six felony charges, including grand theft, forgery and telecommunications fraud. He also pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors related to the transfers of vehicle title.
In addition to his sentence, he will spend three years on probation and must pay a $5,000 fine. He has paid $11,000 in civil restitution to the zoo and $90,000 in criminal restitution to the zoo and the state, Yost said.
According to a release from Ohio Auditor of State Keith Faber, former director of purchasing for the zoo Tracy Murnane pleaded guilty to a bill of information Monday in Delaware County Common Pleas Court to felony charges of grand theft, complicity in the commission of theft of a motor vehicle, forgery, telecommunications fraud and filing incomplete, false and fraudulent returns. He also pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges connected to acquisition of motor vehicles without obtaining certificates of title in his name.
A joint investigation by the Ohio Auditor’s Office and Ohio Attorney General’s Office uncovered schemes by four executives to use zoo funds for vacations, vehicles, concerts, sporting events and other personal expenses between 2011 and 2021.
Murnane sold services from his family’s business to the zoo, sold personal cars using a straw seller, helped former zoo chief executive officer Tom Stalf use zoo funds to buy a vehicle for Stalf’s personal use, used a zoo vendor barter system to book a party bus for a family member’s wedding and filed tax returns for 2019 without accounting for his fraudulent gains, WBNS reported.
Former zoo chief financial officer Greg Bell was sentenced to three years in prison.
Former CEO Tom Stalf pleaded guilty July 23 and is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 14.
Former marketing director Pete Fingerhut pleaded guilty July 2 and is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 28.
A fifth defendant, Grant Bell, who worked with Murnane as s purchasing agent, pleaded guilty to one count of theft and was sentenced Sept. 9 to two years of probation and ordered to pay more than $8,500 in criminal re
In a sentencing memo filed with the court, prosecutors noted that while Murnane profited from the scheme to defraud the zoo, he ultimately cooperated with investigators and was prepared to testify against the former executives indicted in the scheme.
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