Former St. Peters Chamber President Pleads Guilty to Stealing $177,000

Former St. Peters Chamber of Commerce President Edward L. Weeks Jr. pleaded guilty earlier this month to stealing more than $177,000 from the group.

Weeks, 51,  got a seven-year suspended execution of sentence and was placed on five years of probation, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Weeks was also ordered to pay restitution. The Post-Dispatch reported Judge Rick Zerr ordered Weeks to pay $50,000 immediately, to assign his $5,000 bond toward the restitution and to pay an additional $38,000 in monthly installments.

Weeks was accused of writing checks from the Chamber and depositing the money in his own personal account. The total amount of money that changed hand is said to be more than $177,000. The Post-Dispatch said Weeks took money in a four-year period to gamble and pay personal bills.

In an email to members of the Greater St. Charles County Chamber of Commerce, President and CEO of the Chamber Scott Tate said the discrepancies might not have been noticed had the St. Peters and St. Charles Chambers not decided to merge. 

Weeks was on the St. Peters Chamber for 10 years before resigning in November 2011. Shortly after his resignation, the St. Peters Chamber decided to merge with the St. Charles Chamber to form the Greater St. Charles County Chamber of Commerce