A former West Virginia volunteer hearth official who pleaded responsible to fraud after burning down his residence and misusing the hearth division’s bank card has been sentenced to 33 months in jail.
Donald A. Ennis, 44, of St. Albans, additionally should pay $513,000 in restitution to his insurance coverage firm and a Kanawha County volunteer hearth division, a federal decide determined this week. Upon launch from jail, Ennis will face three years of supervised launch.
In 2021, Ennis fraudulently obtained an insurance coverage payout on his residence for $161,100 for the dwelling and $120,825 for the contents, the U.S. Lawyer for the Southern District of West Virginia mentioned final yr.
A fireplace utterly engulfed the property on Feb. 15, 2021, and hearth crews had been unable to comprise it, in response to the felony info doc filed within the case. The Bloomington, Illinois-based property insurance coverage firm was not named. The annual premium was lower than $980.
As finance and operations supervisor for the volunteer hearth division, Ennis additionally ran up $153,700 in fees on the division’s bank card, via ATM withdrawals and purchases in 2020, 2021 and 2022, prosecutors mentioned. Amongst different objects, he bought a winch equipment, brake traces and different components for his Jeep, together with an air compressor, the court docket doc reveals.
The hearth division was funded partly by the Kanawha County Fee.
Earlier than his sentencing, his federal public defender legal professional submitted a memorandum to the court docket, arguing for leniency.
“Mr. Ennis’ crimes are horrible. However the remainder of his life has been devoted to serving to others,” legal professional Rachel Zimarowski wrote. “Together with his personal two palms, he has staunched bleeding, set bones, and actually introduced members of this neighborhood again to life. The great he has performed, his willingness to run into hazard, his full and utter selflessness as a paramedic, father, son, uncle, and good friend—it’s no marvel so a lot of his family members have written letters expressing how troublesome it’s to reconcile that man with the one who dedicated these crimes. He feels the identical means.”
Ennis, who has extreme diabetes, has acquired psychological well being remedy lately and has expressed remorse for his crimes, the lawyer wrote.
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