David LaPlante, the former director of school building and grounds who was charged with misappropriating more than $70,000 in school materials and equipment, pleaded nolo to charges on April 4 and sentenced to five years suspended with five years of
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David LaPlante, the former director of school building and grounds who was charged with misappropriating more than $70,000 in school materials and equipment, pleaded nolo to charges on April 4 and sentenced to five years suspended with five years of probation. He also made restitution of $46,399.66, which was paid in full on the day of the plea, according to the office of the attorney general.
LaPlante’s actions came under scrutiny in December 2015 while he was on vacation and out of the country. In an effort to reconcile purchase orders, department personnel were unable to locate equipment bought from one of several vendors.
According to Beacon reports at the time, Superintendent Philip Thornton notified police, and their investigation reportedly unveiled cases in which LaPlante picked up materials for delivery to various school jobs. Allegedly, the materials never made it to the schools. In other situations, according to Anthony Ferrucci, the district’s chief budget officer, LaPlante would create orders for jobs that didn’t exist and pick up the materials ordered from vendors.
LaPlante, who started work for the department 10 years ago as the director of energy – a position that no longer exists – was paid $100,913. When irregularities with purchases came to light, the School Committee fired LaPlante on Dec. 9.
Police exercised two warrants to retrieve items from the LaPlante home at 100 Fairway Lane. According to Thornton, more than four truckloads of items, including a dishwasher, were removed from the house. Many of those items were returned to the department.
Special Assistant Attorney General Sara Pierson prosecuted the case.
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bendover
HUH? $75,000 worth of materials and supplies stolen, $46,399.66 paid in restitution, 5 years suspended and 5 years probation...SAY WHAT? SOOooo, Warwick is shorted $28,600.34 but deemed paid in full? “In consideration of the plea and paying full restitution at the time of the plea, the State dismissed the count of obtaining money under false pretenses,” she said. This according to "speedy" Kilmartin's mouthpiece, Amy Kempe....Does any of this make sense?
Is this the same sort of fuzzy accounting used to determine unfunded liabilities owed to healthcare benefits for police, fire and school employees? Got it, 290M is really 500M without the three card monty accounting...CENTRAL FALLS and chapter 9, here we come.
Thursday, April 6, 2017 Report this
dave642
bendover
you really should take your time to read the full article it says 4 truckloads of items were removed from the house, I am sure thats where the $28,600.34 came from.
Friday, April 7, 2017 Report this
bendover
DAVE; I read the article...I am glad the police department was able to recover merchandise and return it to the school department...What we don't know is if this merchandise was still sitting in the garage or elsewhere, in its original packaging, or had it already been installed and therefore is now used equipment. My foggy memory tells me there was a similar case involving a DPW employee removing city owned equipment from the garage and miraculously avoided being charged with a far more serious count...Result, got all his back pay and got to keep his job. A conviction on the more serious charge would have yielded a different outcome...Call me a doubting Thomas, but I have seen far too many cases similar to these simply end up falling between the cracks or yielding a tap in the nose with a rolled up newspaper for punishment.
Friday, April 7, 2017 Report this
richardcorrente
I am incensed by this outcome.
He stole hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of items over many years and "somehow" it only totaled $70,000. THEN, he only got a suspended sentence. THEN, he only got 5 years probation. THEN, he only had to pay back about tho thirds of the $70,000. No wonder the problems keep getting worse. Crime DOES pay! This trend has got to stop. Warwick should sue David LaPlante in civil court for compensatory and punitive damages. If we don't, we are setting the stage for the next David LaPlante to steal hundreds of thousands at the risk of paying back only two thirds.
Happy Easter everyone.
Rick Corrente
The Taxpayers Mayor
Friday, April 7, 2017 Report this
Thecaptain
LaPlante committed 306 separate incidents of theft over a 2 year period. The theft was from 5 different vendors. He was originally charged with 5 counts of OMUFP under 11-41-27 which is a completely different statute than run of the mill embezzlement as it is specific to a municipal department head. Those charges were reduced to simple
unlawful conversion>$100 and OMUFP> $1500. The OMUFP was dropped so he plead to the lesser charge. Not bad, and to boot he paid no fines. What a country.
The 360 documents of exculpatory evidence shows that approximately $30,000 in merchandise was left in the house as it "was affixed to the dwelling. The documents also indicate that aprox. $22,000 in merchandise was completely unaccounted for. In particular, the majority of the purchases were made on a credit card in the name of "Warwick School Dept." and the credit card purchases were all authorized by someone named Susan Hickey. I dont understand how she was not questioned, or how the controller, Ferrucci, managed to miss over $100,000.
As of this date Mr. LaPlante still gets to keep what he stole, and in essence, the restitution became his penalty. So if you go out and rob 10 banks in the course of a year, and you get caught, do you only get charged with 1 count of robbery? Then if you give the money back, there is no penalty? The problem is that there is no deterrent for this type of behavior. Not withstanding that this was a crime against the children. Yet , even after his firing, we still are paying his health care. What a country. Read the statute clearly.
CHAPTER 11-41
Theft, Embezzlement, False Pretenses, and Misappropriation
SECTION 11-41-27
§ 11-41-27 Wrongful conversion by officer or state or municipal employee.
Whoever, being an officer or employee of the state of Rhode Island, or any department, agency, instrumentality or political subdivision of the state, or any city or town, embezzles or wrongfully converts to his or her own use or benefit, or to the use or benefit of any other, any money or property which comes into his or her possession or control in the execution of that office or employment, shall be fined not more than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) or three (3) times the value of the money or property thus embezzled or converted, whichever is greater, or imprisoned not more than twenty (20) years, or both; except that if the sum or value of the property embezzled is less than one hundred dollars ($100) he or she shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
Saturday, April 8, 2017 Report this