A Bridgeport,CT man who formerly worked at a Norwalk funeral home was sentenced to 18 months in jail Wednesday for stealing $9,300 from a life insurance check earmarked for the funeral expenses of a 47-year-old man.Michael Balcombe, 28, of 441 Garfield Ave., Bridgeport, pleaded guilty in Stamford court to a reduced charge of third-degree larceny and admitted he violated his probation stemming from a 2006 conviction for sales of a controlled substance.
The violation of probation charge could have sent him to jail for as many as three years, the length of the suspended sentence he received when he was convicted of the sales charge in 2006.
Balcombe, who appeared with his attorney Mark Phillips, declined to say anything before Judge Gary White sentenced him to a three-year sentence, which was suspended after 18 months and followed by three years probation.
Balcombe was arrested in February after Downer Funeral Home in Norwalk called the dead man's 70-year-old mother and asked if she could pay the $9,289 bill for her son Curtis Wilson's funeral, which took place in July 2009, his arrest affidavit said.
Wilson's mother, Orabell Jenkins, said she was stunned by the request because Balcombe had just come by her home to drop off a check for $702, the remainder from her son's life insurance policy after the bill was paid.
After getting the request for payment from Downer, Jenkins called Global Life & Accident Insurance Company and asked them what happened to her son's insurance check. She was told the policy had been cashed out and sent to Downer's address.
When police obtained a search warrant for Balcombe's bank account, they discovered the insurance check was deposited into his bank account in late July 2009.
White ruled that Balcombe must make restitution of $1,800 in two weeks and pay the rest of the $7,500 loss to Downer before he completes his probation.
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