Con man gets 30-year sentence for ripping off charity

On Monday, Nov. 26, Timothy Janusz was sentenced by Judge Steven Alm of Hawaii's First Circuit Court to 30 years in prison – three consecutive 10-year sentences – for stealing nearly $300,000 from four elderly donors who wanted to give the money to the Salvation Army in Hawaii, where he had been hired in 2003 as director of planned giving. The judge also ordered Janusz to pay about $44,000 in resititution.

According to reports, at the time of his arrest in April 2006 Janusz had attempted to steal $150,00 from a 77-year-old man. He also pleaded guilty to defrauding a Hawaii Island man and two Honolulu women of $141,000 and had collected more than $10,000 from the Salvation Army in bogus mileage expenses.

The Salvation Army reportedly did not make pre-employment background checks at the time Janusz was hired, except for employees working with children, but has since changed that policy. A background check could have revealed a 1996 conviction for fraud in Colorado, where he had been charged with defrauding an elderly couple of some $2.2 million. In that case, he was sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to pay $184,000 in restitution.

Janusz escaped from a South Dakota federal prison camp after the Colorado conviction, but was captured and returned to finish serving his sentence. After his release, Janusz moved to Hawaii and was hired by the Salvation Army. Federal authorities may still prosecute him on the escape charges.