TOPEKA — Former Saint Francis Ministries CEO Robert Smith admitted in federal court Thursday that he used the organization’s credit card for personal expenses and authorized payments for a co-defendant’s fraudulent invoices.
Then he pleaded guilty to a single charge of wire fraud for a $6,909.73 credit card payment.
Smith led the foster care organization from 2014 to 2020, where the Episcopal priest was known as Father Bobby. Federal authorities gathered evidence that Smith and William Whymark, who provided IT services, engaged in a scheme to bilk the organization of more than $4.7 million through inflated invoices. Smith also used the organization’s credit card for family travels, fine clothes, meals at five-star restaurants and cash withdrawals.
Kansas Reflector first reported on the financial irregularities shortly after Smith resigned in 2020.
Whymark pleaded guilty on Nov. 18 to two charges of wire fraud totaling more than $2 million, admitting his role in the scheme. He has yet to be sentenced.
The 54-year-old Smith faced 20 charges for crimes including wire fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. By pleading guilty to a single count of wire fraud, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He will remain free until sentencing, which is set for July 15.
Danielle Thomas, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Kansas, said “the discretion on whether to dismiss or proceed on the remaining charges remains.”
U.S. District Judge Toby Crouse gripped and spun a baseball in his hands Thursday as Smith affirmed for U.S. District Judge Toby Crouse that he understood the charges against him, that he would lose the right to vote, hold office or own a gun, that he received adequate counsel from defense attorney Sarah Hess, and that the judge alone would determine the length of his prison term.
“Does it remain your desire to plead guilty today?” Crouse asked.
Smith answered: “Yes.”
Prosecutor Sara Walton then presented evidence that would be brought against Smith if the case were to go to trial. The evidence included Smith’s approval of fraudulent invoices, as well as the personal credit card expenses that he failed to report or reimburse. The count to which Smith agreed to plead guilty was a credit card payment from March 3, 2018.
Smith admitted for the record that the evidence was accurate. He sat stoically with hands folded on the defendant’s table as Crouse accepted the plea.
Bishop Paula Clark of the Diocese of Chicago, where Smith was ordained, said in a statement that the church would respond to his guilty plea by initiating a disciplinary process.
“I ask you to please pray for the Rev. Smith, his family, and all who are affected by this situation,” Clark said.
Saint Francis, a faith-based nonprofit, was the state’s largest foster care contractor, serving 3,100 children and 600 homes, when Smith resigned in November 2020. The organization nearly became insolvent under Smith’s management, which included severely underbidding a foster care contract in Nebraska.
Among other questionable purchases, Smith claimed he purchased $65,000 worth of Chicago Cubs tickets so he could flip them for a profit on the secondary market. Nebraska’s governor at the time, Pete Ricketts, who is now a U.S. senator, is part-owner of the Cubs.
Smith also invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in his wife’s plans to harvest a “miracle” food in El Salvador. An internal Saint Francis investigation later discovered a project manager in El Salvador had asked for a Visa card that could be used for cash bribes for government officials there.
The Kansas Department for Children and Families, after conducting its own investigation, required Saint Francis to repay $9.4 million. The state also replaced Saint Francis as the contractor for the Wichita area, but continues to contract with Saint Francis in other parts of the state.
“For more than 80 years Saint Francis Ministries has provided healing and hope to children and families and that remains our focus,” said Denny Marlin, spokesman for Saint Francis. “We trust the judicial process and remain committed to serving the children and families who rely on our care.”
This story previously appeared in the Kansas Reflector.
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