By Shawn Hogendorf, Staff Writer 

Former Prior Lake Fire Chief Bruce Sames was sentenced to serve a total of 15 days in Scott County Jail with credit for time served and up to five years probation by Scott County District Court Judge Michael Fahey on Friday morning.

In March, Sames was found guilty of two felony counts of theft “by temporary control.” He will begin serving his jail time on Aug. 1.

Sames was also sentenced to a total of 30 days of community service work with Habitat for Humanity and ordered not to use firearms while on probation, apologize to the community as determined by probation, complete a gambling assessment and to follow the recommendations, remain law abiding, provide a DNA sample and pay a court surcharge of $160.

Sames is not allowed in a gambling institution while on probation.

“I truly am sorry for what I did,” Sames said in court on Friday. “I know what I did was wrong. I used bad judgment. The fire department was my life.”

Sames was originally charged with two counts of property theft for stealing more than $13,000 from a fire department miscellaneous fund from January to December 2006. Fahey found Sames not guilty of those two charges because state attorneys could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Sames didn’t intend to repay the money he took.

Prior to the sentencing, Fahey said everyone in the courtroom has a tremendous respect for firefighters and what they do, especially following Sept. 11.

“My concern is the violation of the trust in the Prior Lake Fire Department within the community,” he added.

From 2001 until 2007, when both Sames and then-fund treasurer Brian Davis were charged and resigned from the department, the two were the only people who had the authority to sign for checks and withdrawals from the department’s checking and money market accounts, Davis confirmed.

In April, Davis pleaded guilty to gross-misdemeanor misconduct for failing to report Sames’ theft for nearly a year. He was sentenced to one year of probation and ordered to pay a $980 fine. He resigned from the fire department shortly after he was charged.

 Shawn Hogendorf can be reached at (952) 345-6374 or shogendorf@swpub.com.