A federal judge sentenced ex-fire chief Troy “Mac” Hohenberger to 50 months imprisonment Thursday for embezzlement and misappropriation of Denton County Emergency Services District No. 1 funds.
The former chief was arrested in November 2022. Hohenberger pleaded guilty in May 2023 to using the district’s funds to pay off personal credit card debts and withholding money from 19 firefighters’ retirement accounts.
Prosecutors and Hohenberger’s counsel agreed to a punishment guideline of 57 to 71 months with the possibility of probation.
His counsel, Brady Wyatt, asked for probation, citing that Hohenberger had gone to great lengths to already pay the ordered $509,807.50 in restitution. Hohenberger sought treatment for the opioid and gambling addictions that resulted in his criminal conduct, Wyatt said.
Emergency Services District No. 1 Firefighter Association President Sam Johnson told the Denton Record-Chronicle that he felt the sentence was fair but generous. He said he had his doubts about some of Hohenberger’s statements during sentencing.
Johnson said he still takes issue with the oversight by parties who should have been supervising Hohenberger’s actions.
This case was “not hard to prove,” Johnson said. “Anyone with common sense” could have seen something was wrong with the department’s books.
Still, Johnson said he felt justice was served and the sentence was good closure for the department.
“Since Nov. 17, 2022, we’ve never had a more positive outlook,” Johnson said of the department. Under new leadership and a new board, he said, Emergency Services District No. 1 is stable and growing.
Current Fire Chief Ricky Vaughan echoed those statements about the department’s future.
It has been disturbing to see how Hohenberger’s actions dismantled internal and community trust, Vaughan said.
However, Vaughan said he’s proud of the firefighters’ resilience. The adversity made the department stronger, he said.
Sentencing testimony
While Hohenberger paid the restitution, prosecutor Paul Morris said that alone will not “whole these victims.”
Judge Sean Jordan agreed, saying he didn’t believe probation was appropriate as the criminal conduct went on for too long, involved too much money and resulted in too many victims.
However, the judge said, given Hohenberger’s efforts to amend, he felt a punishment short of the range’s minimum would be just.
Jordan came to that conclusion after hearing statements from Hohenberger and his family as well as the firefighters he stole from.
Johnson, the Firefighter Association president, told the judge he did not feel Hohenberger deserved leniency. The former chief’s actions were not an accident, he said, and when the firefighters confronted him, Hohenberger was dishonest.
Former firefighter Trey Ring told the judge that Hohenberger’s “evil” actions caused agony as he has grappled with financial hardships and suicidal ideation.
What is worse than the theft or embezzlement or misappropriation, Ring said, was the ease with which Hohenberger did it despite knowing the pain it would cause the firefighters.
“I will never lose the disgust I have in my heart for you,” Ring said.
When Hohenberger’s family took the stand, they told the judge he had become a different person than when he wrestled with an opioid addiction.
He had once been a respected pillar of the community who treated the firefighters like family, spending holidays together, Hohenberger and his family said.
However, Hohenberger said he was prescribed hydrocodone in 2009 after other measures to treat his painful pancreatitis failed. He became increasingly dependent on the drugs, he said.
The former chief also described developing a gambling addiction after hitting a jackpot once and continually chasing that euphoric feeling.
There’s no excuse for his actions, though, Hohenberger said.
“I violated your trust,” he tearfully told the firefighters. “I’m so ashamed. We were family. My heart and soul beg for your forgiveness.”
Since his arrest, Hohenberger said, he has gone to rehab and sees a therapist who tests him for drugs monthly.
His family asked the judge for leniency as Hohenberger is shedding the shameful person he had been and is returning to the good man they knew him to be.
Additionally, they told the judge that Hohenberger needed to be there for his family. His son is a single father to two children who relies on Hohenberger for support. His wife has a congenital heart defect and may require a heart transplant.
Jordan said it was difficult to reconcile Hohenberger’s actions since his arrest and his family’s characterization of him with his criminal conduct.
Most, if not all, of his criminal actions were the result of his opioid addiction, Jordan said.
So, the judge ordered that Hohenberger should receive appropriate mental health and drug treatment while imprisoned. If he is successful in his drug programming, Jordan said, Hohenberger could see a reduction in his term of imprisonment.
The judge allowed Hohenberger 45 days before he must surrender himself to confinement. Given Jordan’s recommendation, Hohenberger will likely serve out his sentence at the Federal Medical Center, a prison in Fort Worth.
A class action lawsuit filed by the firefighters and a wrongful termination suit by Ring are ongoing.