Former Mathews Volunteer Fire Department treasurer Paul Joseph Reardon was sentenced Monday to 20 years in prison, with 15 years suspended, for embezzling $216,500 from his fellow volunteers over a two-year period. He pleaded guilty to the charge and was convicted in July.

Judge R. Bruce Long didn’t mince words when he handed down the sentence. Referring to a letter from one of Reardon’s supporters that said the court should find out what happened instead of persecuting Reardon, Long said, "I’m astonished that they’ve suggested leniency for a common criminal."

Long said that he had reviewed the pre-sentence report the night before and had found a number of mitigating factors, such as Reardon’s more than 30-year career as a Virginia State Trooper, his advanced age (Reardon turns 75 tomorrow), the lack of prior convictions, the fact that he adopted and raised two children, and his long record of volunteerism in his church and the community. But Reardon’s demeanor and his refusal to reveal what he did with the money didn’t sit well with the judge.

"If he’d come in court with his hat in hand, remorseful, I would consider it," Long said. "But he’s made no effort to say where the money’s gone. His betrayal of the public trust was astronomical."

During a hearing that lasted less than two hours, only one person testified for the prosecution—MVFD president Calvin Morgan. Morgan testified that Reardon’s theft had a huge financial impact on the fire department, wiping out three-quarters of the organization’s cash and leaving a total of just $70,000 in all its accounts. This caused a delay in purchasing a new fire truck and in breaking ground on a new firehouse at Cobbs Creek.

Because the department’s annual fund drive began just a month ago, Morgan said it was hard to say if fundraising efforts have been affected by the scandal. But the number of obituary memorials the department normally receives has dropped drastically, he said, and letters accompanying some of the donations have questioned whether the fire department can be trusted to handle its finances.

He said that, in spite of the strict measures the fire department has undertaken to make its finances transparent, he’s worried about the public’s trust.

"The public has got us under a microscope," Morgan said. "And I don’t blame them."

Several people testified for the defense. Retired engineer and surveyor Chuck Dawson of Mathews said he had been Reardon’s neighbor and fellow parishioner for over 30 years. While he never would have suspected that Reardon would commit such a "reprehensible" crime, Dawson said that Reardon did good things over the years that should be considered by the judge in sentencing.

"I don’t condone him," said Dawson, "but I hope the court can recognize some of the positive things in his life, as well."

Tom Hinkel of The Hinkel Company, who serves on the parish council of Francis de Sales Roman Catholic Church, has known Reardon for seven years and said he was flabbergasted by the situation.

"It’s hard to believe that a man I’ve known of his character has gotten himself in this situation," he said.

Lawrence Hardwick of Urbanna, a store owner and retired military worker, said that Reardon had helped him learn the ins and outs of warrants and bad checks and had always been a very positive person.

"When I had problems, I would talk with him," Hardwick said. "I don’t condone (what he has done), but I still love him. I ask the court to let him put the mistakes he’s made in the past."

Reardon’s wife, Pat, a retired school nurse, testified that the two had been married almost 51 years and that he had been very involved in his church and in the Masons and other organizations.

She said that the day she found out about the charges pending against her husband, she arrived home to find "cars out front, a state police investigator in the kitchen" and people taking boxes out of her house.

"I couldn’t believe what was going on," she said tearfully. "When I learned money was missing, I said, ‘Gosh, how can it possibly be?’"

Pat Reardon said she had seen no financial windfalls and that she and her husband were in debt. They owe two mortgages on their house, she said, and they still owe money on their vehicle.

She described the situation as devastating for her sons, Michael and Patrick, and said that Michael, who lives locally, had hired a bookkeeper to help her sort out the finances and to help her cut down on expenses so she could begin paying back the money her husband owes the fire department. She said she had sent one check for $1,000 and intended to try to do the same every month.

Haltingly, she said it’s been tough on her in her senior years to suddenly be living alone and worrying about being able to pay the bills.

Mrs. Reardon answered "no" when asked by Hicks if any of the stolen money had gone to her children or church or if it had been used to fund extravagant trips. Judge Long asked her if she had seen any fancy jewelry or any drug activity, to which she also responded no.

Michael Reardon, the Reardons’ 48-year-old son, was asked to describe his dad, and he responded, "he has an extraordinary sense of humor and is one of the most intelligent people I’ve met. He’s my dad and I love him." Reardon said further that he was shocked by the charges against his father "because for so many years, he was the good guy, he was my hero."

Reardon said his mother was devastated and embarrassed by the situation, that she wasn’t eating a lot, and that she’d lost weight. He said he hadn’t seen any financial extravagance on his father’s part and didn’t know where the money went.

The last person to testify for the defense was Reardon himself. He approached the witness stand wearing jail-issued sandals, one sock, and ankle chains. He carried a plastic bag with him because, he told Judge Long, he had been sick all week.

Commonwealth’s attorney Bob Hicks of Gloucester immediately asked Reardon why he did what he did. Reardon responded with what appeared to be a joke, saying that Calvin Morgan was one of his best friends and that "he still owes me for one year’s taxes." The comment elicited a smattering of laughter.

Reardon then said he was "totally sorry" and that while the thefts were occurring he "kept thinking ‘No more—this is the end; I won’t have to do it anymore.’" He said he spent the money on bills and gave some to two clients who needed it, but he refused to say who those "clients" were.

"They asked me for help and I said I would help," he said. "They were good people."

"Not crooks like you, in other words," said Hicks, to which Reardon responded, "that’s right."

Hicks asked Reardon, "Who are you to decide some other charity was more worthy (than the fire department)?"

Reardon responded that he was the only one who handled the fund drive, and he kept hoping he would have money to cover all the expenses.

"And every month you looked the firefighters in the eye and gave them a dummy report," said Hicks.

Asked when the thefts began, Reardon said "three or four years ago." Hicks asked, "never a crooked act before that?" and Reardon responded, "not to my knowledge."

Hicks asked Reardon if he had no plan to repay the money, and Reardon said he never thought it would reach the point where it would be so much.

"Hopefully, I’d die in office," he said.

Judge Long asked Reardon to tell him what he thought would happen to someone who had embezzled $200,000, to which Reardon replied, "Two months in Saluda (Regional Security Center) almost killed me," and explained that he was a diabetic with infected toes.

Long asked him one more time if he was unwilling or unable to disclose the names of the people he had given money to, and his final remark was, "I made a promise."

In his closing remarks, Hicks recounted Reardon’s offenses—embezzlement of over $200,000 from Mathews Volunteer Fire Department in approximately 100 separate transactions.

"How could there be a worse breach of trust?" said Hicks. "How could he have picked a worse victim to embezzle from? He said he felt like he wasn’t being paid for what he did (but) these are all people that donate their time. He embezzled from the whole county."

Hicks argued that, because a new truck couldn’t be purchased or a new building constructed in a timely fashion, some Mathews resident could lose their home or their life. He wondered how the fire department could hope to recoup such a loss when most donations are in $10 or $20 increments.

"Every month he went to the meeting and looked them in the eye and gave them a dummy report, all the time lying to them," said Hicks. "He is arrogant to think that whatever he was doing with the money was a better use than the people who made the donations."

Hicks chastised Reardon for being unwilling to help the fire department recoup the loss by saying where the money went.

"He had all these folks bamboozled a long time," said Hicks.

In addition, he said, Reardon "tarnished every law officer’s badge in the Commonwealth."

Hicks asked that the judge ignore Reardon’s advanced age and sentence him like a young man, then let the parole board decide if he were entitled to leniency.

"Let the punishment fit the crime and let the parole board deal with the rest," he said.

Defense attorney Bill Johnson said it was difficult to argue against the prosecution.

"Mathews Volunteer Fire Department is one of the most important organizations in the county," he said. "Where would we be without it?"

But, he said, Reardon had served in the U.S. Navy and as a Virginia State Trooper and had done work that benefited the Boys and Girls Club and his church.

"That has to count for something," Johnson said. "Why it ended up like this in his senior years at 74, I don’t know. I’m not sure we’ll ever know what makes someone do something like this."

Johnson said embezzlers typically start off with small amounts that increase over time, and they start to justify what they’ve done.

"There’s a pathology here," he said.

Johnson said he wasn’t asking for mercy for Reardon himself but for his wife, who, he said, is now at home alone trying to deal with a household.

‘That’s a hell of a thing," he said.

In rebuttal, Hicks said that Reardon’s resume "is what allowed him to prey on the community."

"If he’s going to get any points for that," he said, "let the parole board do it."

In addition to having to serve five years in jail, Reardon was ordered to begin paying $1,000 a month toward the $215,500 he still owes. The first payment will be due within 90 days after his release from jail, and he will be on indefinite supervised probation.

He will be eligible for up to 15 percent of time off for good behavior, said Hicks Wednesday morning, but he will have to serve 85 percent of the five years.

After the sentencing hearing was over, Mathews Volunteer Fire Department president Calvin Morgan said that as he watched Reardon testify, he hadn’t seen any signs of remorse.

"He betrayed the trust of the fire department and the trust of the people of this county," said Morgan, "and I don’t think he did anything today to change that."

While the fire department "would like to recover as much money as we can," said Morgan, he felt the verdict was "as fair as it could be under the circumstances … I guess the judge did what the judge felt was the right and humane thing to do."