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A Syracuse man told a federal court judge that getting his girlfriend pregnant as a teenager — which led to him missing the chance to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — is the reason behind his lifetime of bad choices, including the embezzlement of $1.3 million from West Valley City-based C.R. England Trucking.
"We had been dating since we were both 16 and we simply spent too much alone time together since going to college," Nathan Lee Kapp, 36, wrote in a letter to U.S. District Court Judge Clark Waddoups prior to Kapp's Tuesday sentencing for felony mail fraud and money laundering.
"I was devastated. My family was devastated. I had never disappointed them before. I had always planned on going on a mission for my church, but obviously that was not going to happen. I don't think I ever recovered from this mistake," Kapp wrote.
Despite Kapp's excuse, Waddoups ordered Kapp to spend 30 months in prison for the crime, after hearing from Dean England, who spoke as a victim from the company. Kapp must also pay $666,780 in restitution to his former employer, Waddoups ordered.
Kapp was charged in federal court in November with one count of felony mail fraud and four counts of money laundering. He could have received a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison if convicted of mail fraud. Each of the four money laundering counts is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
In March, he pleaded guilty to lesser charges of one count of felony money laundering. He admitted to depositing more than $10,000 in his personal bank account every week when he worked as a controller at C.R. England Trucking.
He stole cash that students sent to the company as fees to attend trucking school from January 2007 through this month, court documents state. He also embezzled and deposited cash from packages that were mailed and shipped by private, commercial interstate carriers, according to court documents.
Kapp didn't record the cash he embezzled on the company's books in order to cover up his scheme, the documents state. He allegedly used the stolen money to buy cars and real estate and to make home improvements, according to the documents.
An America First Credit Union employee once questioned Kapp about his large deposits — $5,000 to $20,000 — and Kapp told the employee he owned a business selling beach towels and sunglasses, the documents state. He said the business often used cash only.
Kapp confessed to the embezzlement during an interview with an IRS agent at the company's offices, according to court documents. The government sought forfeiture of the man's Syracuse home, cars and $40,000 in cash from the credit union account.
In his letter to Waddoups, Kapp said that he first delved into money laundering and communication fraud in 2004, when he stole money because he was short on a down payment for his first home. He was caught, and paid restitution back to his employer at the time, but his wife —who he went on to have two more children with —divorced him.
He said he took a job at C.R. England but couldn't pay his rent and $1,050-a-month child support payment. He took out loans to try to make ends meet but soon decided to embezzle again.
"At the very moment I was browsing the Internet trying to find a second job, a stack of cash was brought to me for deposit. Also, earlier in the day, I was denied a promotion, which would have given me the additional money I needed. They were all convenient excuses for me to take the money. I didn't intend on continuing this act for years," Kapp wrote.
He found love again in 2008 and remarried but felt pressure to provide for his family, he wrote. He lied to his second wife, telling her that extra cash came from a bookkeeping business. He called the day he was arrested "a relief."
"Before, all I saw was darkness. There is now a light that I can keep walking toward," Kapp wrote.
"I don't think I have ever been able to forgive myself for getting my ex-wife pregnant. I have been trying to make up for that mistake since the day it happened. That has caused me to sacrifice my values," Kapp wrote.
"I would imagine the question everybody wants answered now is, 'Why should I believe that you will never do something like this again, especially since it is your second time?' The answer to that is simple. I am tired of the path I have walked in my life."
Kapp wrote he plans to go to law school following prison because he likely won't be able to find a job in the financial industry.
Prosecutors in the case asked Waddoups to allow Kapp's first wife, Betsy Smith, to testify before the sentencing to address Kapp's character flaws. Prosecutors said Smith could prove that Kapp didn't steal to provide for his daughters because the man wouldn't pay for life insurance, didn't establish college funds for the girls and did not contribute to expenses like piano and dance lessons.
Waddoups, however, denied prosecutors' requests to put Smith on the stand.
Kapp must self-report for transport to prison on July 26, Waddoups ordered.
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