Cumberland County businessman and gaming store owner Garrett T. Steedly, 45, of Linden, pleaded guilty on Monday, April 21, in Wake County Superior Court to six counts of Embezzlement of State Property. The state tax charges were filed by the North Carolina Department of Revenue.
Wake County Superior Court Judge Vince Rozier sentenced Steedly to a 16-month minimum, 29-month maximum prison term. The sentence was suspended, and Steedly was placed on supervised probation for 24 months. As conditions of his probation, Steedly was ordered to serve 30 days house arrest and complete 100 hours of community service. Restitution of $191,388.73 was paid prior to Steedly’s plea.
Information presented in court showed that Steedly, as the sole proprietor of Gamers Guild, located in Spring Lake, NC, assisted, or aided and abetted the business to embezzle, misapply, and convert to its own use $191,388.73 in North Carolina Sales Tax from January 1, 2011, to September 30, 2021. During this period, Steedly was the responsible person of Gamers Guild, which was under a duty to collect, hold in trust, and remit North Carolina Sales Tax to the North Carolina Department of Revenue.
The charges against Steedly resulted from an investigation by special agents with the Department’s Criminal Investigations Division in Raleigh and was prosecuted by Special Prosecution attorneys with the Office of Attorney General.