Last year, Adam Winger, the director of the North Logan City library in Utah, resigned for reasons that were not immediately clear. Now things have become a teensy bit clearer: He’s been found guilty of spending $89,000 in public money on mobile game sensation Game of War.
Earlier this year, local news outlet The Herald Journal reported, investigators found that Winger, 38, had purchased “hundreds” of Amazon, iTunes, and Google Play gift cards, most of which he put toward in-app purchases in Game of War—a free-to-play massively multiplayer online strategy game in which you collect resources, build things, and wait for a long time for the latter two things to happen.
He did the bulk of these purchases with two Amazon accounts, both of which were tethered to city and personal credit cards. On top of that, Winger was also charged with fudging invoices in order to cover his tracks.
Back in June, Winger pleaded guilty in the Cache County 1st District Court to theft and forgery, the former a second degree felony and the latter a third degree felony. This week, he was sentenced to 30 days in jail and 100 hours of community service. In addition, he was required to pay restitution of $78,000 prior to the sentencing as part of his plea deal.
That, according to the Journal, helped him narrowly avoid prison. Winger’s attorney, Herm Olsen, said that Winger sold his house and drained his retirement fund in a “Herculean” effort to pay off the $78,000 sum.
Another tragedy brought to us by ethically questionable microtransactions. And Kate Upton.