Mark Green, the former superintendent of Columbia City Parks and Recreation, has found himself in hot water after being sentenced to three years for his involvement in a scandalous embezzlement scheme. The scheme involved Green siphoning off over $240,000 from city funds, a portion of which was shockingly splurged on baseball cards. Who knew baseball could be such an expensive hobby?
The whole sordid affair unraveled thanks to the sharp eye of Columbia City Mayor Ryan Daniel, who initiated an investigation back in March 2023. The investigation, a joint effort involving the Whitley County Prosecutor’s Office, Indiana State Police, and the Indiana State Board of Accounts, turned the spotlight on Green’s illicit activities, leading to his subsequent termination from his position.
With the facts laid bare in court documents, the shocking truth emerged that Green had gone on a spending spree worth approximately $246,000 on baseball cards from ‘Sport Spot’, all charged to the city’s credit card. To make matters worse, he even went as far as selling some of these ill-gotten cards on eBay, eventually confessing to the unauthorized diversion of city funds to fuel his card-collecting obsession.
Initially facing a formidable lineup of charges including four counts of corrupt business influence, four counts of theft, and one count of official misconduct, Green opted for a plea deal in April 2024 to downscale his legal predicament. Under the terms of the agreement, Green admitted guilt to a single count of theft, leading to the drop of all other charges against him. Furthermore, as part of his penance, Green was mandated to make restitution to the tune of $275,628, with $100,000 allocated to a bond company and the remaining $175,628 to be reimbursed to the city coffers.
The final nail in Green’s coffin came with his sentencing, which was meted out on a somber Monday. The court decreed that Green would serve the initial year of his three-year sentence—possibly behind bars or on work release—followed by a further two years under probationary supervision. This outcome serves as a cautionary tale, shedding light on the lax financial oversight plaguing Columbia City’s Parks and Recreation Department, and pushing for a dire need for enhanced controls and accountability measures moving forward.
Green’s descent from a respected superintendent to a disgraced felon serves as a stark reminder of the consequences of greed and betrayal of trust. The real victims in this saga are the citizens of Columbia City who ultimately pay the price for one man’s unchecked avarice. As the dust settles on this sorry chapter, one can only hope that lessons are learned, and measures are put in place to prevent such a breach of public trust from happening again. It’s not every day you hear about a scandal involving baseball cards, but in this case, the game took a startlingly sinister turn.
