MdR Man Gets 20 Months for Embezzling from the Girl Scouts

A Marina del Rey man was sentenced today to 20 months in prison for laundering $50,000 out of nearly $370,000 he embezzled from the Girl Scouts while employed by the organization.

Channing Smack, 51, was ordered by U.S. District Judge Otis D. Wright II to serve three years of supervised release after being released from prison.

As senior property manager of the Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles, Smack was responsible for overseeing the organization's 22 properties in the area and hiring outside contractors to perform maintenance and repairs to the various properties.

Smack admitted approving invoices for services purportedly provided by a firm called ZB Land Maintenance & Engineering, which is registered under the name of his deceased brother. Smack acknowledged issuing checks to ZB that totaled $368,278.

Most of the checks to ZB were deposited into one of two bank accounts opened under the names of the company and the defendant's late brother.

Smack pleaded guilty in January before Wright to one count each of mail fraud and money laundering.

He was arrested Dec. 18, shortly after he withdrew $64,500 from accounts believed to contain proceeds of the scheme. He was fired by the Girl Scouts just prior to his arrest, GSGLA spokeswoman Carol Dedrich said.

She said earlier that the investigation began when Girl Scout officials "discovered some irregularities" in Smack's work and turned the information over to federal prosecutors in Los Angeles.

--City News Service