ESCANABA, Mich. (WZMQ) – A retired Delta County insurance agent has been sentenced to serve jail time and pay restitution for embezzlement.
In April, former Michigan Farm Bureau Insurance agent Richard Jensen pleaded no contest to a charge of embezzlement by an agent or trustee of $1,000 or more but less than $20,000. The 71-year-old appeared in the Delta County Circuit Court on Monday for his sentencing.
Multiple former clients of Jensen’s accused him of embezzlement over the course of a few years. Some of those clients sent impact statements and spoke in court.
“I cannot express to you enough or in a sufficient way the emotional, physical, and financial impact my husband and I have suffered at the hands of Mr. Jensen,” one wrote. “… He should not be able to enjoy a peaceful retirement with his family at the expense of his victims. True justice demands that he be incarcerated, as nothing can return to me everything he has taken.”
“Rick, I can’t believe you’d do that to your friends,” said another. “It’s unbelievable that a man of your gesture would do that to your friends.”
Jensen responded, “I want to apologize to all of my clients. As they stated, they were friends and I betrayed their trust. I’m sorry for that.”
Sentencing guidelines included up to four months of incarceration, but the Michigan Department of Corrections and County Prosecutor Lauren Wickman recommended four. Judge John Economopoulos sentenced Jensen to serve four months in jail as part of his two-year probation and to repay $61,655.47 in restitution.
“He dodged a more severe sentence by the grace of a plea bargain reached in the case but also, I think, the fact that he didn’t have a prior criminal record at 71 years of age,” said Trent Stupak, Jensen’s defense attorney.
While Prosecutor Wickman was pleased that Jensen received the recommended incarceration sentence, she believes the extent of his theft is not yet known.
“The judge was very thorough,” Wickman said. “He reviewed all the victim impact statements, and there were numerous. We don’t normally see that. You see the dollars and cents, but you can’t see the stress or the pain or even the gravity of what could have happened because of Mr. Jensen’s actions.”
According to Wickman, Michigan Farm Bureau Insurance and current Agent Scott Sanders have paid much of the money owed to the victims while Jensen works toward paying his ordered restitution. At the time of his sentencing, Jensen had been out on bond for eight months and had not paid any amount of restitution.
“Thankfully, the individual has been made whole at this point,” said Wickman. “Now, it’s making everyone else whole. If the restitution was paid by today’s date, there actually would’ve been a lesser recommendation. Mr. Jensen chose not to or could not pay that restitution by today’s date, which is what allowed us to ask for the recommendation that we did.”
Judge Economopoulos addressed Jensen in court to emphasize the importance of repaying the embezzled funds, saying it should be his top priority. However, Stupak said Jensen will address his financial responsibility after his incarceration.
