Bernard Mitchell stole more than $64,000

3:20 p.m. EDT, March 14, 2011

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-funeral-fraud-plea-20110314,0,3841262.story

SANFORD – A Sanford funeral director accused of embezzling more than $64,000 from the mortuary where he worked pleaded guilty today to theft and money laundering.

Bernard Mitchell, 60, is facing 10 to 15 years of probation. He'll be sentenced later.

He was arrested in May. The victim: the Sanford funeral home where he had worked for 47 years, Wilson-Eichelberger Mortuary. He had worked there since he was 13, according to investigative records.

He quit two years ago to open his own Sanford funeral home, Mitchell and Mitchell, which is still in business.

Once he left his old job, the boss discovered the missing money and went to authorities.

He was investigated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Sanford police.

According to an FDLE report, Mitchell put money, paid him by clients for "pre-need" plans, into a checking account for a fraternal organization, the Florida Mortuary Association, that had no business collecting the money.

Mitchell was its treasurer and the only person who had checking-signing authority, according to the FDLE.

Mitchell then used the money on personal things, such as paying off his credit card bills, on restaurants, hotels, gasoline and to pay his cell phone and cable bills, according to the report.

The money he embezzled was paid by more than a dozen people, but according to defense attorney Buck Blankner, they've all received the service they paid for.

That's because the funeral home's owner, Eunice Wilson, made good on their contracts, said her niece, Gail Choice.

The plea deal requires Mitchell to pay restitution.

He was angry as he left the Seminole County Courthouse this afternoon, grabbed the lens of a television camera.

He would not answer questions.