Crime & Safety

Gambling Led Ex-Lions Official to Steal, Lawyer Says

The former treasurer for Wilson's Lions Club gets jail time for $45,000 theft.

The former treasurer of the Wilson Lions will spend six to 12 months in prison for stealing $45,000 from the club, according to published reports.

Stephen Williams, 60, was charged last October with embezzling money from the club over a period of 13 months, and pleaded guilty in April to theft, according to court records.

He is eligible for the prison's work release program.

In Northampton County Court on Friday, his attorney said the thefts were motivated by a gambling problem, the Express-Times reported.

According to borough police, club members discovered in August that Williams had written checks to himself between September 2010 and October 2011.

David Perruso, Wilson's mayor and a longtime Lions Club member, told Patch that club members became suspicious because Williams refused to show them the Lions' books.

"There was always some kind of excuse," he said at the time. 

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But when the club tried to pay for something and got an insufficient funds notice, a member confronted Williams, the mayor said.

Police say the club's president, Jack Barr, reported the thefts in August, and borough Det. Chris Meehan began investigating the man who had been in charge of the Lions' finances for the last decade.

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Williams had also been a member of the borough's zoning hearing board, but lost that position after his arrest. 

Williams has repaid the money, according the the Morning Call.


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