Former Pearl Jam executive sentenced to prison for embezzlement
A business executive who stole nearly $400,000 from the rock band Pearl Jam was sentenced Friday in Washington state to 14 months in prison.
Rickey Goodrich, former chief financial officer for Pearl Jam’s management company, pleaded guilty in December to six counts of first-degree theft “for using company accounts to pay personal debts and fund lavish family vacations, spa treatments, life insurance and pricey California wines,” according to the Seattle Times, which cited documents from the King County prosecuting attorney’s office.
Goodrich, 55, began working for Pearl Jam’s touring organization in 2005, the Times reported, then moved the following year to Curtis Inc., the company owned by the Seattle band’s manager, Kelly Curtis.
“Over the next few years,” the newspaper wrote, “Goodrich used funds from Curtis Inc. to repeatedly make payments on his wife’s American Express account and to pay for credit card charges he racked up at wineries, hotels and spas, charging documents said.”
The executive also spent the band’s money on purchases from iTunes and Amazon.com before he was fired in 2010, according to the Times. He was accused of stealing $380,000 in all.
“There is nothing more devastating to an organization than someone who takes money from the inside,” the paper quoted Superior Court Judge Roger Rogoff as saying at Friday’s sentencing.
Goodrich, who prosecutors said had repaid $125,000 when he pleaded guilty, reportedly apologized at the hearing for “misunderstanding” that the money he took was a loan. Reuters said he’ll report to jail on March 14.
A representative for Pearl Jam, whose most recent album, “Lightning Bolt,” came out in October, did not respond immediately to a request from Pop & Hiss for comment.
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