During the sentencing hearing, prosecuting and defense attorneys reargued issues that were contested during last year’s trial. Witnesses had accused Wilson of raiding library accounts, padding his salary with fake reimbursements, stealing library construction materials, and threatening and extorting kickbacks from an employee. Bowen said that Wilson displayed arrogance in using “clever and deceptive means” to conceal his actions, the Morning News reported.
Wilson asked the court for leniency, citing his years of community service. Bowen acknowledged that he had been an “extraordinary library director,” but that did not sanction theft.
“I never intended to hurt anybody or take anything that wasn’t mine,” Wilson said during the hearing. “If I had some things to do over again, I’d do some of them differently.”
Posted January 27, 2006.