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Ex-official gets 9 years, must repay $631,000 he stole from Dallas conservative think tank 

Joshua Shane Galloway told authorities that his position gave him "too much temptation, opportunity," police records show.

A former financial director who bilked $1.2 million from a now-defunct conservative Dallas think tank was sentenced Friday to nine years in prison.

Joshua Shane Galloway had 10,000 euros, nearly $360,000 in cash and $75,000 in gold bullion when U.S. marshals captured him in a Nashville hotel last year.

He told authorities that his position gave him "too much temptation, opportunity," police records show.

Joshua Galloway
Joshua Galloway

His sentencing Friday was much less dramatic.

Dressed in dull gray Dallas County jail garb with his hands cuffed to his waist, Galloway, 37, pleaded guilty to three felony charges: money laundering, misapplication of fiduciary property and theft of more than $200,000.

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He was given nine years each for the theft and misapplication charges. The sentences will run concurrently. He was given 10 years' probation for the money laundering charge.

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Galloway also was ordered to pay $631,145.22 in restitution to the National Center for Policy Analysis.

Once Dallas' most prominent conservative think tank, the center shut down in July after three years of financial troubles.

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The trouble started after its founder, John Goodman, was fired by the board of directors in 2014. Goodman is known for promoting the use of tax-protected health savings accounts to allow consumers to pay for their medical expenses under high-deductible medical insurance.

"The difficult decision our board has taken due to our inability to recover financially and reputationally is directly traceable to the reckless actions of its former president and founder, John Goodman," senior director of policy research Joe Barnett told The Dallas Morning News in July.

Goodman, who founded the center in 1983, has since founded the Goodman Institute. A spokesman said that when he left the center, the organization had "$5 million annual income, a $6 million endowment, $750,000 in the bank and a solid donor base."

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The center hired Galloway in April 2015 on a $72,000 annual salary. By that July, Galloway was on 10 years' probation for an unrelated felony financial crime in Denton County.

He was fired in January 2016 for "obstructing a financial audit," court records show.

After he was fired, the center's leadership figured out Galloway had embezzled more than $600,000. A full audit revealed Galloway had forged three checks for $630,000.

He was arrested Feb. 8, 2016. Galloway told authorities he wished he never had "the access and control."

"I made some bad choices," he told police.

Galloway's sentence was part of a plea agreement. If he violates his probation and doesn't pay back the money he stole, he could face up to life in prison.