Seemayer Given Probation, No Prison Time

When Chris Seemayer arrived to a 12th-floor federal courtroom on Wednesday afternoon, he did so as a free man led by his two attorneys and surrounded by family and loved ones.

After pleading guilty in June to stealing nearly $30,000 from the city he ran for more than two decades, the former Brentwood city administrator learned the penalty of his crime on Wednesday: five years probation with six months of home confinement.

Seemayer, 52 who lives in Fenton, also is required to pay back the money he stole and was fined an additional $2,000. is also part of his probation.

Under federal sentencing guidelines, Seemayer could faced six months to a year in prison, but U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry granted leniency in her sentencing.

Seemayer had already faced a greater penalty because of the public nature of his sentencing, Perry said. That penalty is that his career as a public worker is finished, she said.

The penalty matched what Seemayer's attorneys, Ronald Jenkins and Michael McAvoy, to the court.

"He does not need to be imprisoned in order for him to have the type of correctional treatment he needs," stated Jenkins in the documents. "Making this treatment a condition of probation would certainly be the most cost-effective manner of providing this assistance."

Seemayer had used at the Casino Queen in East St. Louis, IL. All of the thefts took place between Jan. 1, 2010, and March of this year, notes court documents. Seemayer withdrew cash advances on his city credit card for gambling money.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith sought a stronger punishment for Seemayer; not only because of the embezzlement of public funds, but also because he abused his power to conceal the theft. Seemayer directed other employees to ignore unauthorized cash advances on his city credit card, states Goldsmith in his sentencing memo.

"The defendant started this whole web of concealment. The lies just came spewing out," Goldsmith said in court. "I think that is very significant here."

The judge responded by quoting from letters submitted by Mayor Pat Kelly and Ward 3 Alderman Andy Leahy, who both asked that Seemayer not face prison time. Kelly and Leahy spoke highly of Seemayer in their letters.

It is unusual for victims to ask for less severe penalties, Perry said.

Goldsmith disagreed with the judge who the victims were in the case.

"The victims are the residents of the city," Goldsmith said. He read from three letters submitted by residents that shared a similar theme: after Seemayer's arrest, each resident lost his or her trust in Brentwood government.

Goldsmith then read from the letter that on August 5, when Kelly asked for a state audit to "restore confidence in our city government."

Goldsmith also noted that Seemayer offered to pay back the money he stole only after he was caught by the authorities.

"He tried to lessen the impact of his crime," Goldsmith said.

Before Perry delivered her sentence, she offered a few final words.

She agreed with Goldsmith that public officials should face tougher punishments than private citizens because of the public trust required in their positions. She said Seemayer's actions were "bad for the city, bad for democracy."

But the loss of Seemayer's career as a public worker—because of the public nature of his crime and his sentencing—is a higher penalty, Perry said.

The probation, confinement, restitution and fine were sufficient to provide punishment and deter future crimes, Perry said.

Seemayer and his attorneys declined request for an interview following the sentencing.