The former treasurer of the Kings View Condo Association in Grand Forks plead guilty to stealing more than $17,000 from the association through a series of unauthorized reimbursements to his personal accounts over a number of years.
Samuel Edwin Mcquade, of Bismarck, will receive two years of supervised probation for the theft. The class B felony carried a maximum 10-year sentence and a $20,000 fine. A class A felony charge of misapplication of entrusted property valuing more than $50,000 was dropped as part of the plea agreement. He also agreed to pay the full restitution of $17,768.13 in addition to court fees.
Mcquade already has returned an additional $80,000 he took from the homeowner's association.
Mcquade's LinkedIn page lists his current employment as the CFO of New York City-based M8 Financial Services LLC, though his attorney pointed out that the charges brought against him have cost Mcquade his job and will likely affect his ability to find employment in finance in the future.
Mcquade told the court Nov. 15 that despite the high-octane nature of his job, the pressure he felt from the homeowner's association board to negotiate a $25 monthly service fee to its bank paired with stress in his personal life -- including his wife's cancer treatment and his own alcoholism -- led him to make the improper transactions.
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"I was in a dark place," he said. "I was abusing alcohol, and it empowered me to betray my friends."
In his decision not to sentence Mcquade to any jail time, District Court Judge Don Hager cited the fact that Mcquade has no prior criminal history and the fact that he has already paid $80,000 in restitution. Hager also decided not to give Mcquade any additional fines, but did order him to undergo a chemical dependency evaluation.
"I was trying to get to the root of why this happened," Hager said of Mcquade's alcohol use. "And he told me."
