A Villager told law enforcement his wife’s prolonged illness forced him to steal money from his employer.
A deputy met with the owner of Low Ball Louie’s cigar bar in Lady Lake to discuss an employee theft investigation on Saturday afternoon, according to a case report from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. The owner said the 62-year-old employee, Fred Thomas McGhee of the Village of Silver Lake on the Historic Side of The Villages, stole from the register every three to four days he worked.
The owner explained that she had proof on paper for five theft incidents and footage for three, totaling $140.39. McGhee would either pretend to ring up cash or ring up the transaction and immediately cancel the sale after the customer paid. Her documentation recorded incidents on May 26, May 30, June 2, June 6 and June 8, the report said.
She showed the deputy videos and computer records demonstrating that McGhee completed transactions, gave customers their products and change, and then canceled the transactions in the computer system. He worked a shift that day, starting at 2:30 p.m., and she wanted him arrested. She did not want it to reach the felony level, though, due to his wife recently undergoing heart surgery, the report said.
The owner added that she had found a $100 bill shoved down between the register and the counter at some point, which was odd. She asked several employees where the money was from, and nobody knew. She felt one of them was stealing, so she began checking records and surveillance footage until she caught McGhee.
Of the sales, she provided receipts for beer, wine, cigars, cigarettes and tar block filters. The register counts at the end of McGhee’s shifts showed no overages or shortages because he canceled the sales before counting the money, the report said.
The deputy responded to Low Ball Louie’s that evening to speak with McGhee about the investigation. He initially stated he knew nothing about the thefts. He suggested that sometimes, if a customer said to put something on another customer’s tab, he would cancel out a previous ticket.
The deputy then described the June 2 incident, where McGhee cleared the transaction for two packs of cigarettes. McGhee responded by saying his drawer always balanced within a few cents, and that they had a cup with money and coins he called a slush fund to cover shortages. He was required to pay shortages and would use the slush fund or his tips if needed, the report said.
When asked to explain why he would be clearing sales from the system, McGhee did not have an answer. The deputy subsequently advised that the business was trying to be gracious by reporting the incidents as a misdemeanor rather than a felony. The deputy told McGhee he had enough evidence to charge him with petit theft, but he was willing to work with him if he cooperated.
At that point, McGhee stated he had taken a few dollars. He did not make much money and had been cut from full- to part-time hours for business reasons. His wife had also not been able to work after surgery, and she was out for several weeks without pay, the report said.
McGhee claimed he had to take money to buy items like cases of water and other necessities while his wife was unable to work. He had been selling things and gathering items for a garage sale, helping friends with yard work for extra money, and shopping at discount stores. He admitted he “went the wrong way” but could not go to jail because he needs to help his wife until she recovers.
He explained his wife’s medical condition and talked about her being on bed rest for four weeks, saying it could be three to six months for her to be fully healed. The stress of all that, and the fact that he was doing most of the work around the house, made him turn to theft to help cover some of the household expenses. He said he and his wife sat down and realized they were running out of money, the report said.
The deputy reviewed the specific dates with McGhee and asked if any other incidents had not been found. McGhee stated there were a few here and there, but he estimated the total amount to be maybe $130 to $145.
The deputy ultimately escorted McGhee back inside the business so he could collect his belongings and turn his key back over to the owner. She then informed him that he was officially trespassed from the location and that he was fired, the report said.
McGhee was issued a misdemeanor citation for petit theft. The Ohio native is due in court on July 7.