Font ResizeA former fraternity treasurer accused of stealing rent money from members of the Sigma Nu fraternity at Southern Utah University has been apprehended and is awaiting court proceedings on a second-degree felony theft charge.
A 5th District Court judge issued a warrant for Thomas Cleveland, 22, in April after the man failed to appear in court.
Cedar City police confirmed last week that Cleveland was recently arrested in Waco, Texas, and is next scheduled to appear in 5th District Court for a preliminary hearing July 1 before Judge John Walton.
Cleveland was charged with theft in March. According to charging documents, he collected rent payments in cash from his house mates in the Cedar City fraternity and told them he passed on the money to the group's landlord each month.
The group believed him, until the landlord called saying the fraternity was $8,000 behind on the rent, court documents state.
By the time the fraternity figured out Cleveland was likely tied to the theft, he had disappeared, according to court documents.
Iron County prosecutors allege the rent scheme was one of several ways Cleveland bilked his fraternity out of thousands of dollars over several months in 2008. Charging documents state Cleveland used fraternity money for several personal items, including a $330 car payment, a $191 T-Mobile cell phone bill and a $90 trip to Wal-Mart.
Cleveland is accused of spending $1,037 for personal use as
Cleveland's alleged spending spree on the fraternity's dime was discovered in November when Mark Stickney, a music professor at SUU and the fraternity's adviser, noticed financial discrepancies in the organization's bank statements. Upon further investigation, he linked the missing money to Cleveland, who took most of the fraternity's financial records with him when he left, according to charging documents.
Cleveland faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted on the theft charge.
He is out of jail, after posting a $10,000 bond, court records show.
