ADRIAN — A local man has been sentenced to a year in jail for devastating his family’s business.
Kevin Lynn King, 62, pled guilty to embezzlement of $100,000 or more on May 28 in Lenawee County Circuit Court under a Killebrew Agreement, which says he’ll serve one year in jail and pay $1.73 million in restitution to his family’s business: King Tool, Inc.
The agreement stipulated six months of his jail sentence could be waived if King paid a $40,000 installment prior to sentencing July 11, but that didn’t happen.
Court records indicate that, between January 2018 and October 2023, King embezzled over $1 million from the business, where he was employed as an accountant and bookkeeper. His family alleges the embezzlement started long before then.
King’s brother, Gary, spoke at sentencing.
“We have documentation that this started years before that, to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars,” he said. “It was over a decade of weekly thefts. This has got to be the worst white-collar crime in the history of Lenawee County.”
Gary called the sentence length a “slap in the face.”
“He has ruined the family, destroyed the business and taken away any financial support for future generations.”
King spoke during the hearing on his own behalf.
“I’m well aware of the emotional and financial damage I’ve done to my entire family,” he said. “I know I’ll never be able to make it right for any of them. My hope is that, somehow, I can make it better.”
King was also sentenced to three years’ probation. He was remanded to the custody of the Lenawee County Sheriff’s Office.
— Contact reporter Corey Murray at cmurray@lenconnect.com or follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @cmurrayhdn.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Adrian man must repay $1.73M in embezzled funds from his family’s business
Reporting by Corey J. Murray, The Daily Telegram / The Daily Telegram
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