A Westminster man was sentenced to a year in jail Tuesday in Howard County Circuit Court for stealing more than $53,000 in computers from his former employer, a nonprofit health care company owned by nuns.
Paul Steedman, 28, was ordered to pay more than $53,000 in restitution to Marriottsville-based Bon Secours Health System Inc., where he had stolen at least 30 computers while working as a customer service technician from January 2007 to April 2008.
Steedman said he sold the computers on eBay in order to pay for his and his wife’s diabetes medications that weren’t covered by his health insurance.
“I did these things. There’s no excuse, only an explanation,” he said before retired Howard Circuit Judge Dennis Sweeney handed down a sentence of 10 years with all but one year suspended.
“I realize that my apology carries about as much weight as the air in which it’s heard.”
Prosecutor Lynn Marshall had recommended a sentence of 18 months, saying Steedman purchased an electric guitar, a paintball gun and Star Wars toys during the time he claimed to be stealing because of financial strain.
“He was simply spending money he didn’t have,” Marshall said.
“Not only was this an abuse of trust, but he was stealing from nuns. … This is a case that cries out for punishment.”
Bon Secours Health System is a nonprofit Catholic health system involved in managing hospitals, assisted-living facilities, nursing homes and hospice groups in seven states.
Stealing from the $2.6 billion health system “isn’t like stealing from the neighborhood soup kitchen, and it doesn’t have the same economic impact,” said defense attorney Glenn Klavans, who argued that Steedman was suffering from depression and financial stress when he committed the thefts.
Klavans had asked Sweeney to impose a period of probation that would allow Steedman to maintain employment and pay back restitution. His wife, Jessica, said she feared her husband’s health would deteriorate while he’s incarcerated.
The two Bon Secours employees who discovered the thefts declined to comment after the hearing Tuesday.
