$88,832 Stolen—

Former Town Worker Arrested On Theft Charge

By Andrew Gorosko

On the morning of Wednesday, March 24, police arrested a former town Public Works Department employee, charging her with first-degree larceny for her alleged embezzlement of $88,832 in public funds, in the form of checks and currency, that were sent to the department to cover waste disposal fees at the town waste transfer station.

Trisha Johnson, 22, of 423-A Judd Road, Southbury, surrendered to police Wednesday morning at the police station and was arrested on a court warrant. Ms Johnson, who formerly lived on Buttonball Drive in Sandy Hook, was arraigned on the felony charge midday on Wednesday in Danbury Superior Court. Ms Johnson did not enter a plea to the larceny charge.

In court, Judge Earl B. Richards, III, reduced Ms Johnson’s bail from $100,000 to $25,000. Through a bail bondsman, Ms Johnson posted bail and was released from custody for an April 7 court appearance, when she will be asked to enter a plea.

First-degree larceny involves the theft of money, goods, or services exceeding $10,000. It is a Class B felony, for which a conviction may result in imprisonment, fines, probation, and restitution of the loss.

The petite, blonde Ms Johnson, who wore dark garments, stood silently before Judge Richards in Courtroom 2 at the arraignment, with handcuffed hands behind her back, as the criminal charge against her was read. The theft, involving hundreds of checks and currency, occurred between February 1, 2003, and January 2004, according to court documents.

The motive for the theft was apparently to support a drug habit.

In court, Prosecutor David Holzbach suggested that Johnson’s $100,000 bail be reduced to $30,000. Attorney Eugene Riccio of Bridgeport, representing Ms Johnson, asked the bail be cut to $20,000. Judge Richards then set bail at $25,000.

In court, Mr Riccio said Ms Johnson has no prior criminal record. The lawyer said Ms Johnson has had a drug addiction problem. Ms Johnson’s mother was present in court.

Ms Johnson had worked as the town’s landfill administrator at the public works office on Turkey Hill Road. She is currently unemployed.

Following the arraignment, Mr Riccio said, “I can’t say anything. It’s an unfortunate [situation] that we’re going to try to resolve in a fair and reasonable fashion.”

Mr Riccio said Ms Johnson did not cash the checks that she allegedly stole from the town. Many of the stolen checks were returned to the town, he said. The cash that was stolen has been spent, the lawyer said. Approximately $34,000 in currency is missing.

According to the police arrest warrant application, “The combined amount of cash and checks that was stolen between February 1, 2003, and January 2004 is approximately $88,832.”

The police documents list the amount of cash stolen as $34,036, and the amount of checks stolen as $54,796.

Police say they have recovered $38,645 of the $54,796 in checks known to be stolen. Approximately $140 in US currency has been recovered.

 

Investigation

In the police arrest warrant application, Detective Robert Koetsch writes that during January 2004, Town Financial Director Benjamin Spragg was made aware by his assistant Donna Tomasko that 14 town bank deposits for December 2003 had not been accounted for. “Spragg discovered that the deposits missing were from the landfill account, which is administered through the Department of Public Works,” Det Koetsch wrote.

“Between July 2003 and December 2003, there was a variance of approximately $73,415 between the accounts receivable from the landfill account and deposits into the Fleet Bank general fund account,” the detective adds.

A financial review indicated there to be a town loss of $73,415, of which $43,394 represented checks and $30,021 represented currency.

The town waste transfer station, which is located at the site of the town’s former landfill on Ethan Allen Road, collects fees from residents for yearly permits, daily permits, second-vehicle waste disposal permits, and bulk dumping fees. Such fees are paid with checks made payable to the town or in cash, for which residents receive a receipt.

Such fees are accounted for daily by landfill workers and then are transferred to the landfill administrator at the Public Works Department at 4 Turkey Hill Road.            

Ms Johnson, formerly of 26 Buttonball Drive, Sandy Hook, was the town’s landfill administrator from September 2001 until last February 3. In that post, she received receipts of cash and checks from landfill personnel, and prepared and made daily deposits at Fleet Bank. Those activities were recorded in a town cash-flow logbook. In her job, Ms Johnson was entrusted to receive payments and deposit those payments within two business days.

On February 3, Ms Johnson informed the town that she wanted to resign her position. She agreed to an interview with First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal, Public Works Director Fred Hurley, and Human Resources Administrator Carole Ross. During that session, Mr Rosenthal questioned Ms Johnson about the missing cash and checks from the landfill account. “[Ms Johnson] stated that she did not take the money and offered no explanation as to the circumstances surrounding the missing money,” according the arrest warrant application.

Newtown police began their investigation into the missing money on February 3. During a February 5 interview with Mr Hurley, police learned that Ms Johnson had been twice reprimanded for making late bank deposits.

On February 5, police interviewed Fran McCutchan, the owner of the Buttonball Drive house where Ms Johnson lived with Ms McCutchan’s son. Ms McCutchan later turned over to police cash and checks made payable to the town, which she had found.

A February 11 police inventory of evidence in the case, turned up 111 personal checks which were made payable to the town by various town residents, totaling more than $29,000.

On February 18, police received ten more checks payable to the town totaling $305, which were dated April 2003 and May 2003.

On February 18, police executed a search warrant at the Buttonball Drive residence. Police seized 12 checks payable to the town totaling $806, a small amount of cash, plus various landfill financial paperwork. On that date, police also executed a search-and-seizure warrant on Ms Johnson’s 2000 Ford Focus, finding a small amount of currency in it.

On February 24, police received an additional 162 checks payable to the town, totaling approximately $7,550.  On March 8, police received another 14 checks payable to town totaling approximately $401.

Those checks are being held as evidence in the case.

Confession

Det Koetsch states that Ms Johnson went to the police station on March 2, with Mr Riccio representing her, and provided a signed, written confession to police.

Ms Johnson allegedly admitted that she removed cash and checks from the Public Works Department during 2003.

“I took the cash and checks and brought them home,” she allegedly said. Ms Johnson also allegedly admitted to having a substance abuse problem. Also, Ms Johnson also allegedly told police that she did not cash any of the checks that were made payable to the town.

“The accused explained that the money was used to support her substance abuse problems,” according to the arrest warrant application.

“On occasions, I would make the deposit for the landfill account and take the cash portion of the deposit,” she told police. Police added that Ms Johnson expressed regret over her actions.

First Selectman

First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal said of Ms Johnson’s arrest, “I hope the public doesn’t have any negative feeling toward the Public Works Department, because this was clearly one employee [at fault] and not the whole department.”

“I clearly wish we had found it [theft] sooner,” he said.

“It’s certainly very unfortunate…You never want to have an employee doing something like this,” he said. Most of the theft occurred during a relatively short period last fall, the first selectman said.

The theft initially occurred in small amounts, later growing in size and then becoming apparent, he said.

Since the theft of public funds became known, town officials have reviewed their money-handling procedures, Mr Rosenthal said.

The town has two insurance policies that provide coverage for such situations, he said. Mr Rosenthal said he does not expect he town to lose any money due to the theft.