A Washtenaw County judge has denied a convicted embezzler’s attempt to reduce the $115,276 in restitution he owes to the Ann Arbor Moose Lodge.

Circuit Judge Archie Brown reaffirmed his calculations for the amount Christopher Steeb stole from the non-profit organization while serving as administrator, along with corresponding interest, in an order signed in December, court records show.

“The losses sustained by the victim are easily ascertainable and measured, and are a direct result of the defendant’s criminal acts,” Brown wrote.

Christopher Steeb

Steeb, a former Scio Township firefighter, pleaded no contest to one felony count of embezzling between $50,000 and $100,000 last year. Prosecutors dismissed a second count in return. 

Brown sentenced him to one year in jail, with a minimum of 60 days to be served, but allowed Steeb to serve a minimum of at least one day per week so he could pay the money back.

Mark Hugger, Steeb’s attorney, challenged the amount and argued in court documents that Brown miscalculated the penalty. He also claimed Brown used a flawed formula to determine any interest owed on loan payments, specifics of which were never presented as evidence during an evidentiary hearing in October.

Following testimony at that hearing, Brown determined Steeb wrote 103 checks that were either unauthorized or not signed by the organization’s treasurer totaling $102,754 from 2005 to 2007. Steeb also wrote four checks for nearly $2,500 in meat and catering purchases that lodge members never benefitted from. Those amounts, plus $630 in overdraft fees, created the base amount from which Brown calculated interest.

He also factored in the loan the organization needed to complete its building project, which testimony showed would not have been necessary without the theft of funds. The final interest amounted to more than $24,800, documents state.

A Michigan State Police investigation showed Steeb would often write checks to himself from lodge accounts or write checks to vendors for more than the cost of the service or item purchased, and then pocket the money.

Brown credited Steeb for more than $6,800 in legitimate expenses paid with the checks and rejected the lodge’s claim that he took more than $8,500 paid on behalf of local Boy Scouts of America troop.

Steeb remained on active duty at the fire department throughout the investigation and lengthy court process, which included a previous plea agreement that Steeb nullified when he switched attorneys. Scio Township Fire Chief Carl Ferch said Steeb was suspended upon entering his final plea and was terminated days later. He declined further comment.

Hugger said Steeb has complied with Brown’s sentencing requirements and was doing odd jobs in the meantime to support himself and make restitution payments.

Art Aisner is a freelance writer for AnnArbor.com. Reach the news desk at news@annarbor.com or 734-623-2530.