Dec 08, 2008 - 14:23:34 CST
Associated PressThe director of North Dakota's aeronautics commission has pleaded guilty to felony theft for taking an envelope with $1,770 from the counter of a Bismarck service station.
Gary Ness was given a two-year deferred sentence and placed on probation for two years. He will have to donate $2,000 to the Ruth Meiers Hospitality House in Bismarck.
Ness says he has no explanation or excuse for his actions. He says he'll resign his job as director of the state aeronautics commission. He has held the job for more than 20 years.
The plea agreement means Ness will not go to prison. His record will be wiped clean if he does not violate any laws over the next two years.
Interested wrote on Dec 9, 2008 2:37 PM:
In the meantime he got five months of full pay and/or consultant fees to sit on his couch and receive disbelieving condolence calls from all of his self-declared friends. If he truly was sorry he would return that pay and resign. Hmmmm, actually I don't remember hearing him say he was sorry. But I do recall a thank you to his friends and family as if he won some kind of award.
Hopefully getting caught and the public humiliation is enough punishment in this case because the legal system certainly gave him a hall pass. "
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