DELAWARE COUNTY, Ohio — A former Columbus Zoo and Aquarium executive charged in a fraud investigation will have to pay $90,000 in restitution after accepting a plea agreement.
Tracy Murnane, 65, appeared in the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas on Thursday. He pleaded guilty to felony charges of grand theft, complicity in the commission of an offense, forgery, telecommunications fraud and filing incomplete, false and fraudulent tax returns. He initially pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
He was indicted on May 23 as part of the state's investigation into the alleged misuse of zoo funds and resources.
Court documents state that Murnane sold services from his family’s business to the zoo, sold personal cars using a straw seller and aided former CEO Tom Stalf in using zoo funds to buy a vehicle for Stalf’s personal use. The documents also say Murnane did this while working as the zoo’s director of purchasing.
Murnane was also accused of using a zoo vendor barter system to book a party bus for a family member’s wedding and filing tax returns for 2019 without accounting for his fraudulent gains.
Murnane will be sentenced on Sept. 23. He is the third former Columbus Zoo executive to change his plea in the fraud investigation.
Last week, former Director of Marketing Pete Fingerhut pleaded guilty to charges related to misusing funds and resources as part of a plea agreement.
Fingerhut will be sentenced on Sept. 23. As part of the plea agreement, he will pay more than $675,000 in restitution.
In October, former CFO Greg Bell pleaded guilty to 14 felony charges, including aggravated theft, conspiracy and tampering with records. Bell will be sentenced after his co-defendant’s cases conclude.
Stalf pleaded not guilty to 36 felony charges. His charges include one count of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, two counts of aggravated theft, two counts of bribery, one count of conspiracy, six counts of money laundering, 22 counts of tampering with records and two counts of telecommunications fraud. His trial is scheduled to begin Aug. 6.