He once called 88 times in a two-hour period. He repeatedly drove past her house in his black BMW. He sent rambling emails and countless text messages.The former Huntertown fire chief is headed to prison after violating the terms of his suspended sentence.
In July, James M. Reid, 44, was sentenced to 180 days on home detention on multiple counts of theft. After he admitted to violating his probation, Reid was sent Thursday to the Indiana Department of Correction for a period of 180 days on each of the two counts, to be served one after another.
Reid was given more than six months of credit for the time he’s already been behind bars or on home detention. He will also have to spend two years on probation, according to court documents.
He was charged in January 2009 with theft, accused of stealing more than $25,000 from the Huntertown Fire Department.
After he pleaded guilty, Reid was given a mostly suspended prison sentence, with 180 days to serve on home detention.
But Allen County probation officers charged that Reid violated the terms of his home detention on more than one occasion – failing to secure full-time employment, even after he was given an additional 12 weeks to do so.
Reid also was accused of failing to pay all his fees or to attend community service, according to court documents.
In 2008, Reid was fired from his position as fire chief of the Huntertown Volunteer Fire Department when local officials became aware of financial irregularities in both the Perry Township trustee’s and fire department’s finances.
He had been using the township trustee’s office credit card for personal use, telling the fire department’s treasurer he needed to be reimbursed for the charges.
But the reimbursement checks never made it to the township trustee’s office. Reid also made invoices for purchases for the fire department, but the purchases never showed up at the department.
During the investigation, Allen County police found that Reid bought a sump pump, lumber, paint supplies and wiring – used in his basement.
His wife, Kathryn Reid, 38, was also charged with fraud, accused of using a Kroger credit card, issued to the fire department, to buy groceries in quantities not needed by the department, according to court documents.
She was sentenced to a year on probation.
