The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium’s former marketing director, Pete Fingerhut, has been sentenced to a five-year prison term after pleading guilty to multiple felonies, including aggravated theft and conspiracy, in a corruption case that cost the zoo over $2.3 million. According to a release from Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s office, Fingerhut must also pay $639,297.33 in criminal restitution, divided between the zoo, the State of Ohio, and the Internal Revenue Service.
Yost’s announcement points to the end of a public corruption case that has ensnared several Columbus Zoo officials. The former CEO and CFO, Tom Stalf and Greg Bell, faced steep consequences, with Stalf being sentenced to seven years and ordered to pay significant restitution. In contrast, Greg Bell received a three-year sentence and must similarly pay up in the hundreds of thousands. In a detail that has not missed the attention of the public eye, Fingerhut was tagged as “The Ticketmaster” according to Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, for his ability to secure exclusive access to events using the zoo’s money for himself and those within his circle.
Prosecutors labeled the marketing director’s misuse of funds as the most severe, a point they fiercely underlined in the sentencing memorandum. They accused Fingerhut of abusing his control of the zoo’s marketing budget and bank account “to benefit himself, his friends and his family.” They saw his behavior as “the most egregious, obnoxious and cavalier of all the criminal defendants,” as stated in the official proclamation from the Ohio Attorney General’s office…