Man sentenced to 14 months after stealing more than $300K from Pearl Jam

The man who admitted to stealing $306,000 from Pearl Jam's management company asked a judge to go easy on him Friday.

Rickey Goodrich was chief financial officer for Curtis Inc. and decided to help himself to its bank accounts in what he described as "loans."

"I never expected to be given this money," Goodrich said in court. "I always expected to repay it."

Judge Roger Rogoff decided on a sentence of 14 months, even though Goodrich's attorney, John Wolfe, asked for his client to receive much less time since he was a first-time offender. He pointed out that Goodrich has paid back $125,000 thus far.

Goodrich called the embezzlement a "misunderstanding."

"I do accept the confusion," he said. "I accept responsibility for my actions and I wish that I had a better approval and notating procedure in place."

His wife attended the hearing and was in tears for much of it.

Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Amanda Froh called the thefts a crime of opportunity and greed.

"He was living beyond his means," she said. "This was his kind of personal bank account."

"There's nothing more devastating to an organization than somebody who takes money from the inside," Rogoff said.

Rogoff gave Goodrich two weeks to get his financial affairs in order. He's expected in King County court on March 14 to be taken into custody

KIRO