Former downtown Pasco exec agrees to pay $262,000 in restitution

After taking one week to review a state auditor’s report, convicted embezzler Michael A. Goins has agreed to pay $262,000 to cover the theft, insurance costs and extra fees.

A restitution order was entered Tuesday in Franklin County Superior Court.

Goins, 37, already has served his prison sentence for admitting he stole from the Downtown Pasco Development Authority during his nearly 2 1/2 years as executive director.

He had been sentenced to a year, but served about seven months, including jail time awaiting sentencing.

He used the agency’s cash and credit cards to pay for personal groceries and electronics, utilities at his Richland home, back child support and trips to New Jersey to visit his two kids.

It is unknown where Goins is living now or if he has a new job. He was not in court Tuesday.

Defense attorney Daniel Stovern declined to comment about the case to the Herald.

Prosecutor Shawn Sant said the downtown district and the state Auditor’s Office were glad to see the proposed amounts agreed to by Goins and Stovern.

Sant noted that actual collection of the restitution is a different matter, but said the order is “holding him accountable as much as you can on these types of cases.”

Goins must pay $119,348 to the Downtown Pasco Development Authority, and $142,742 to its insurance group.

Sant said insurance will not cover all of the organization’s losses.

The downtown association is trying to negotiate reduced bank fees and Internal Revenue Service penalties, Sant said.

When Goins pleaded guilty in January to first-degree theft with aggravating factors, it was believed he embezzled at least $90,000.

But the state audit, released Sept. 26, found $143,242 was stolen, along with $30,456 in questionable expenditures and $54,765 in penalties that have been assessed to the downtown association because of Goins’ actions.

Sant wanted the ordered restitution amount to also include the costs the agency incurred for a lawyer and certified public accountant to sort out the financial mess, he said.

The association is partially funded by taxpayer dollars. It oversees the Pasco Farmers Market and Pasco Specialty Kitchen, and coordinates events like the Cinco de Mayo celebration, Fiery Foods Festival and Food Truck Friday.

It operates on an annual budget of about $250,000, with $240,000 in annual expenditures, the audit report said.

Goins was hired in July 2013 and fired last December, two weeks after his arrest.

Auditors said the biggest problem was that Goins “maintained complete control” over the bank accounts, with no one doing a secondary review, and payments and payroll checks “were not scrutinized in sufficient detail to detect concerns.”

This story was originally published October 5, 2016 at 7:25 PM.