Rohde headed to prison after probation revoked

A former Kingsley funeral director is headed to prison after a judge revoked his probation for financial crimes this week.

Mark Francis Rohde, 50, of Kingsley, was convicted last August of two financial felonies including stealing $179,000 from Mauer-Johnson Funeral Home where he had been part-owner. The judge at the time, Judge Duane Hoffmeyer, suspended a ten-year prison sentence and put Rohde on probation instead.

However, early this month, Rohde was found guilty of two counts of harassment, causing Judge James Scott to reinstate his prison sentence.

Rohde faces a maximum sentence of ten years, but he could be eligible for a reduced sentence and parole.

The harassment charges stem from Nov. 12, 2008.

According to court documents, Rohde harassed Joel Johnson, whom he had shared business with at Mauer-Johnson Funeral Home, and Nicollette Johnson on that date.

When Rohde was originally sentenced last fall, the judge said he decided not to send Rohde to prison because he didn't see it as accomplishing anything other than causing difficulty for Rohde in paying restitution.

Rohde was ordered to pay about $210,000 in restitution. Most of it was for Mauer-Johnson Funeral Home, and about $31,500 was for the Iowa Department of Revenue regarding the second of Rohde's two felonies, tax evasion.

At that time, the judge also said he considered Rohde's prior record and family circumstances in the decision to hold off on the prison sentence.

In the recent March 25 decision, the judge ordered that Rohde have no contact with Joel and Nicollette Johnson or their children for a period of five years.

The judge directed the Plymouth County Sheriff to deliver Rohde to the Iowa Medical and Classification Center at Oakdale and be transferred to the custody of the director of the Iowa Department of Corrections.

Rohde's original charges arose after Dec. 13, 2007, when Johnson contacted the sheriff's office and reported missing funds from his business he shared with Rohde.

After investigation by the sheriff's office, the Plymouth County Attorney's Office and the Internal Revenue Service, Rohde was arrested and charged with theft in the first degree for allegedly taking property belonging to Mauer-Johnson-Earnest Funeral Homes, Inc. "in an amount exceeding $10,000," a class C felony; tax evasion between the years of 2003 and 2007, a class D felony; and fraudulent practice for falsely filing tax returns in an amount exceeding $10,000 between the years 2003 and 2007, a class C felony.

The third felony charge was dropped in the August 2008 plea agreement, as long as Rohde complies with all of the agreement's conditions.

Rohde had entered into a partnership with Johnson in early 2003, according to information from the sheriff's office. Under the Mauer-Johnson-Earnest Funeral Homes, Inc. corporation, Rohde was 35 percent owner of Rohde-Earnest Funeral Home in Kingsley and Earnest-Rohde Funeral Home in Marcus.

Their partnership ended in April 2007.