The former general manager of a Boone County metal supplier, who prosecutors say stole thousands of dollars from his employer to benefit a rival company, has avoided prison time.

David Mersch, 69, was sentenced on Wednesday in Boone County Circuit Court to five years of probation. However, Mersch was ordered to spend 180 days in jail.

He also had to pay $8,628 in restitution and still faces the possibility of prison time should he fail to follow any court orders or the conditions of his probation.

Mersch pleaded guilty in February to counts of theft and receiving stolen property. As part of his plea deal, prosecutors agreed to drop an engaging in organized crime charge.

Over roughly two years, prosecutors wrote in court filings, Mersch and five others stole property and services from Boone Steel to benefit a competing business, All in Steel, which he helped create.

Boone County deputies arrested Mersch early last year after he tried to secretly take the stolen items back to Boone Steel, according to a criminal citation.

The deputies found Mersch had a stolen trailer, welder and other equipment worth over $30,000. Mersch later told detectives that at least $70,000 worth of material at All in Steel’s facility in Burlington was stolen from Boone Steel.

Mersch is the former operations officer for the Cincinnati offices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He was sentenced in January 2012 to four years in prison for accepting bribes from a construction company executive in exchange for awarding contracts to that company.

Boone Steel hired Mersch after his release from prison and eventually promoted him to general manager − the highest position in the business, according to a lawsuit filed by the company, which is ongoing.

As part of the scheme, the company claims, Mersch directed Boone Steel employees to clock in and go to work for whole days to set up the rival business and even made a sign for All in Steel using stolen labor, equipment and materials.

Also charged were Mark Goetz, CEO of Edgewood Electric Inc., Jordan Maltaner of Edgewood, Tammi Jackson and her husband, Thomas Jackson, of Dry Ridge, and Curtis Prather of New Liberty.

They all pleaded guilty to charges and had their prison sentences conditionally discharged – meaning they must follow court-imposed conditions without probationary supervision.

In court filings, Boone Steel said Maltaner was Mersch’s “loyal lieutenant” and Prather worked on the shop floor and transported stolen property to the rival business.

The lawsuit states that the Jacksons worked in the office and controlled order entry, invoicing and inventory.

Goetz is the only one not employed by Boone Steel, though the company’s lawsuit claims he was the “money person” who funded the operation with “seed money” he obtained by selling a farm.

During his sentencing hearing on Wednesday, Mersch said that defending himself in the criminal and civil litigation has devastated his retirement savings and reputation.

“It remains our position that this was and is a civil dispute between employer and employee, and never should have been criminally charged,” his attorney, Edward Metzger III, said in a statement.

“While the charges suggest that David Mersch was a corrupt employee,” Metzger said, “in reality, he was a dedicated leader who nearly doubled Boone Steel’s gross revenues during his last four years as General Manager – which included the COVID years in which many businesses were struggling.”

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Ex-GM of NKY company avoids prison in scheme to steal, make rival firm