Lage pleads guilty in Velosity Electronics case

A Cape Girardeau man pleaded guilty Monday to stealing from a local business.

Jeff Lage, 31, pleaded guilty to the class B felony of stealing $25,000 or more.

Circuit Judge Benjamin Lewis placed Lage on five years of supervised probation and ordered him to pay more than $70,000 in restitution to his former employer, Velosity Electronics, and serve 120 nonconsecutive days in jail.

Lage was accused of making $68,789.95 worth of electronic transactions from Velosity's bank account to pay his personal credit-card account between March 24, 2014, and Oct. 28, according to an April 1 probable-cause statement filed by detective Jeff Lucas of the Cape Girardeau Police Department.

In the statement, Lucas said after Velosity's Bank of Missouri account and Lage's Capital One account were subpoenaed, he was able to match 50 transactions from Velosity's account to Lage's.

Lage also used Velosity's account to pay $2,210.21 to Ameren UE and took $1.989.08 from Velosity's cash register, Lucas wrote.

The theft came to light when Velosity's bank notified the business its account was getting low, and bank statements revealed money was missing, Lucas wrote.

Velosity reported the theft Oct. 30.

Ryan Frenz, co-owner of Velosity Electronics, 1622 N. Kingshighway, said Lage was a Velosity employee for about seven years. Frenz declined to comment further on Lage's sentencing.

Defense attorney Curtis Poore told Lewis the $72,024.91 restitution has been paid.

Lage apologized for the theft Monday in court.

"I take full responsibility for my actions and am very sorry for the people I hurt," he said.

If Lage violates his probation, he could be sentenced to 15 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections, Lewis said.

smaue@semissourian.com

388-3644

Pertinent address:

500 N. Kingshighway, Cape Girardeau