MALONE — Zachary White was sentenced to 700 hours of community service and must pay $25,000 in restitution for stealing electricity for Titus Mountain Ski Center.

He was fined another $15,000 for violating environmental laws by sending waste water into a stream that flows into the Salmon River.

White, 45, of Malone was visibly relieved and whispered “thank you” when Acting Franklin County Court Judge Penelope Clute rejected a Probation Department recommendation to sentence him to County Jail.

His family members gathering in the courtroom clasped their hands in prayer-like fashion as the judge spoke, wiped away tears with tissues and softly sobbed during the 40-minute proceeding.

ADMITS THEFTS

White pleaded guilty in October to 14 charges, including two felonies, for bypassing the National Grid electrical meters at the Ski Center so the venue would not be charged for the power it used during snow-making and ski-lift operations.

The sentences carry conditional discharges that require him to complete his community-service obligation and not be arrested in the next three years.

If those conditions are broken, White could be sentenced to a year in County Jail.

‘I REALLY MESSED UP’

Given a chance to speak before he learned his fate, he apologized to the court and the community of Malone.

“I’m sorry. I had to help keep the Ski Center here for Malone, and I made a mistake. I’m a good person.

“I don’t know what I was thinking. I’ve hurt my wife and son and a lot of people. It has affected me more people than you can imagine.

“My employees wonder every day if they are going to lose their jobs,” the former Ski Center manager said. “I really messed up, and I learned my lesson in more ways that you can imagine.