The consequences were swift and severe when Alfred Dowe double-billed taxpayers for meals and travel as a member of the Roanoke City Council: He resigned in disgrace, lost his job as a financial consultant and was convicted of fraud.

Yet in the process, Dowe became a hit with the children at the West End Center for Youth.

As part of his sentence for three misdemeanor convictions of obtaining money by false pretenses, Dowe, 43, recently completed 200 hours of community service at the after-school center for disadvantaged children.

Working with kindergarten through fifth-grade students, Dowe helped with homework, played cards, read aloud from children's books, shot basketball, chaperoned field trips and provided informal counseling to the youths.

"He was wonderful," said Joy Parrish, interim director of the West End Center in Roanoke. "He bonded really tightly with the kids. He has a real gift for working with and inspiring children."

Two years ago this week, Dowe resigned from the city council following news that he billed the same expenses to both city and state taxpayers. Through his attorney, Dowe declined to be interviewed for this story.

If his adjustment to probation is any indication, Dowe seems determined to make amends.

In just six months, Dowe completed everything required by a plea agreement that gave him a suspended 18-month jail sentence and two years of probation. He performed 200 hours of community service to benefit the youth of Roanoke, paid $1,249 in fines and court costs, and wrote the city a check for $3,042.78 -- restitution for the dinner tabs and hotel stays that he illegally billed to his expense account.

"This case is being returned to the court as having successfully complied with the conditions of the suspended sentence," Dowe's probation officer wrote in a letter to Judge Robert "Pat" Doherty filed Jan. 21.

Dowe worked "diligently" to fulfill his obligations as quickly as possible, defense attorney John Lichtenstein said.

"He is grateful for the outpouring of support he has received and he looks forward to the opportunity of future service," a statement from Lichtenstein read. Lichtenstein declined to elaborate on what that future service might be.

A hefty taxpayer tab

Over the past three years, spending by the Roanoke City Council members on meals and travel has dropped 82 percent.

In 2007, the seven council members billed $34,570.67 for meals, travel and lodging to their city-issued credit cards. The expenses were for municipal business, such as attending conferences, and discussing city matters during lunches or dinners.

Nearly half of that tab -- $14,604.03 -- was run up by Dowe, an affable, bow-tie-wearing member of the council who had just been re-elected to a second term.

Dowe resigned after expense reports obtained in February 2008 by The Roanoke Times showed that he had billed taxpayers twice for trips to Richmond to attend meetings of a state agency for which he was a board member.

After first charging his hotel room and rental car to his city credit card, Dowe later received reimbursement from the Department of Criminal Justice Services for the same hotel stay and mileage.

Dowe ended up paying the city nearly $6,000 for questionable expenses -- nearly twice the amount of restitution later determined by court officials after he was indicted on 11 counts of fraud.

By then, the rest of the council members had taken steps to trim their spending.

As part of a new policy adopted in April 2008, each council member was allotted $3,360 for training and development, which includes meals and lodging expenses for out-of-town conferences and workshops. An additional $500 was permitted for meals in town held to discuss city business. Before the changes, such expenses came from a single pot of money, which made it easier for Dowe's spending to escalate.

In 2008, the council spent $17,087 on meals and travel -- less than half the amount from the year before.

Expenses in 2009 plummeted to $6,154.84 after the council members decided to slash by half their individual accounts for training and development.

Council members said the changes were in reaction to two things: the controversy over Dowe's spending, and the tough economic times that soon followed.

"I think there was a recognition by council that every department in the city is tightening its belt, jobs are being frozen, some services are being cut, and that we needed to be very mindful of that and keep an eye on the bottom line with our own budget," Councilman Court Rosen said.

Rosen was the most frugal council member last year when it came to using his city-issued credit card to pay for meals and travel, spending just $480. The most spent last year was $1,415.79 by Vice Mayor Sherman Lea, according to statements of economic interest filed in the city clerk's office.

Even before the current budget woes, city council members were losing their appetite for meals and lodging on the taxpayer's dime.

"I think what happened to Mr. Dowe certainly made people a little more leery about using money in any scenario that can be questioned," Councilman David Trinkle said. "There have been lots of efforts to make better use of our time and better use of the dollar in these tough times," he said.

Silent for now

Dowe never denied that he double-billed. He has yet to publicly explain why.

Lichtenstein said Dowe recently decided, "out of respect for the process," to decline an interview with the newspaper until at least May 2011, when he is scheduled to complete two years of probation. (Even though Dowe has done all the judge has asked, he must stay out of trouble until his probation ends to avoid the possibility of having to serve a portion of his suspended sentence in prison.)

Though Dowe's motive remains a mystery, this much is clear: At the time he was using city funds to pay for meals and rental cars, he was struggling with his personal finances.

Last year, when he filed for bankruptcy, Dowe listed assets of $3,508 and liabilities of $367,826. After losing his job as a financial representative, Dowe found a job making telephone sales for the Home Shopping Network, earning just a fraction of his prior salary, according to his bankruptcy petition.

"Even without all the legal stuff, he's been through a lot of tough times, as many people have in this economy," said Trinkle, who was a running mate of Dowe's four years ago as part of the successful "For the City" ticket.

The bankruptcy case has since been dropped, and Trinkle said Dowe has been upbeat in their occasional encounters over the past year.

"I'm glad to hear that he's completed all of the things he needed to do and is putting this behind him," Trinkle said. "I think he's pulling it together."