By RUSTY PAYN
After an hour of deliberation Friday, former Utah County Democratic Party chairman Robert W. Stringham was convicted of 12 counts of theft, three counts of communication fraud and one count of racketeering in the 4th District Court in Provo.
Stringham stole approximately $15,000 from Assessments and Psychotherapy Associates from August 1991 to August 1992 while working as a counselor and administrator for the company. Prosecutors also claimed Stringham filed false pension reports with Carnegie Pension Fund in 1990, 1991 and 1992.
Part of Stringham’s duties as an administrator was issuing checks. Art Marshal, president of APA, said Stringham was issuing double checks, taking counseling hours and assigning them to his wife. During the 1991-1992 year, Stringham also issued his wife’s consulting firm’s checks, supposedly totaling $55,000. Only $43,000 was accounted for in billing documents.
Investigators said he also falsified his documents so that he could receive a $400 a month pension, as long as his salary was less than $5,500 a year. Since his income was run through his wife’s consulting firm, Carnegie issued the pension. According to a Carnegie official, Stringham would not have received the pension otherwise.
Stringham’s attorney Robert Collins told the jury that Marshal and Carnegie were simply paying him back for the civil cases the Stringhams filed against them.
