DRUG LED TO THEFT, EX-WORKER SAYS

The Prosecution Disputes an Ex-City Warehouse Manager's Claim That a
$400-a-Day Cocaine Habit Made Him an Embezzler

LARGO -- Erroyl C. Bing said he lived a double life much of the time he
worked as the city of St. Petersburg's warehouse manager.

By day, his bosses in city government were unaware of a problem. By night,
Bing said he sought drugs and alcohol. He soon found himself with a
$400-a-day cocaine habit, without the money to maintain his addiction, Bing
said.

So he turned to a ready source of cash: the city itself.

"My only focus was on obtaining the drug," Bing said. "I had to develop, I
did develop a process to obtain the funds."

So, Bing said, he embezzled.

Bing appeared in court Monday to ask a circuit judge for a lenient sentence
for the embezzlement of $259,237 in city funds during two years ending in
April 1999. Bing, who was fired by the city, planned to plead no contest to
criminal charges involving the theft if the judge agreed to a sentence at
the low end of state guidelines, his lawyers said.

Bing faces from about two to 15 years in prison. But Bing did not plead out
because Judge Dee Anna Farnell delayed her decision until July 17.

Prosecutors question whether Bing, 45, didn't simply invent his cocaine
addiction as an excuse for his thievery -- and an effort to win court sympathy.

"The only reason we're here is that . . . we've got all the documents.
We've got him red-handed," said prosecutor Fred Schaub.

Bing testified that he checked himself into rehab in early 1999 and, in
July 1999, into a hospital because of his drinking and drug addiction.

But Schaub noted that drug screening was done in July at the hospital that
noted his body did not contain traces of cocaine.

Bing said he first used drugs in 1982, when he stole $18,000 while a bank
employee in the Tampa Bay area. He eventually was convicted of bank fraud
and served an 18-month federal prison sentence.

Bing said he got into drugs again in the mid-1990s while employed by the
city, which didn't do a criminal background check.

"It was just my reacquaintance with old friends," Bing said. "It started
out as a recreational thing. And it very quickly spiraled out of control."

He said he "disconnected" from his family, yet worked for St. Petersburg
without drawing suspicion to himself.

Bing's wife, Angelean Bing, the principal of Fairmount Park Elementary in
St. Petersburg, testified that she became suspicious that her husband was
into drugs again.

One time, she saw a packet of what she assumed to be cocaine drop from his
wallet. He also became paranoid, she said, and stopped attending church --
which worried her.

"I did pray a lot because that's my faith," said Mrs. Bing, who said she
had no knowledge of her husband's embezzlement. "My heart is broken into a
million pieces."

Prosecutors say that Bing set up a phony corporation, A.B. Specialty Shops,
to receive payment for supplies to the city. But the city never received
the supplies, though his company received payment for everything from
plumbing fixtures to picnic tables.

Prosecutor Schaub disputed that Bing was spending the money he was getting
from the city on drugs. Instead, Bing's credit card records show him paying
for a cruise, shopping at area stores, paying for hotels and even tickets
to a professional basketball game in Atlanta, Schaub said.

Bing's attorney, Anthony Battaglia, told the judge that city oversight of
Bing was lax and other city employees also may have been parties to the
theft -- which prosecutors dispute.

"Mr. Bing is in effect a scapegoat for the city, isn't he?" Battaglia asked
city auditor Steven Smith.

"Good heavens, no," Smith replied. "How can you say he's a scapegoat?"

Smith agreed that Bing's supervisor could have done a better job overseeing
Bing. But the fact that city safeguards may have been flawed, Smith said,
is beside the point.

Said Smith, "That doesn't give somebody permission to steal. ---