Syracuse, NY - The former general manager of a suburban bus company was sentenced today to five years' probation and 4 1/2 months in jail for stealing about $86,000 from his employer. Samuel T. Durham, 46, of Stinard Avenue in Syracuse, had pleaded guilty to second-degree grand larceny in connection with the theft from A&E Transport Services Inc. of DeWitt....
Syracuse, NY - The former general manager of a suburban bus company was sentenced today to five years' probation and 4 1/2 months in jail for stealing about $86,000 from his employer.
Samuel T. Durham, 46, of Stinard Avenue in Syracuse, had pleaded guilty to second-degree grand larceny in connection with the theft from A&E Transport Services Inc. of DeWitt.
Assistant District Attorney Matthew Dotzler said Durham stole the money from January 2008 through September 2009 by submitting fraudulent payroll documents in the names of some real employees, some former employees and some fake employees. Durham would obtain the checks, forge the signatures and deposit the money into his own account, the prosecutor said.
Dotzler said the scheme was uncovered when one of the real employees raised questions about the inflated amount of income the company records showed he had been paid.
Durham was arrested by state police in April.
Dotzler said Durham also pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of fifth-degree criminal tax fraud. The prosecutor said Durham had a legal obligation to declare the stolen money as income for tax purposes.
Defense lawyer Richard Priest asked state Supreme Court Justice John Brunetti to consider having the estimated 40 days Durham has served in jail since pleading guilty cover the jail part of the penalty so Durham can take care of lining up customers for his private snowplowing business.
The prosecution noted the plea deal called for a six-month jail sentence if Durham came up with $20,000 of the $86,000 in restitution by sentencing. The defendant did that, avoiding the possibility of a state prison sentence.
Brunetti, however, decided to shave some time off the jail part of the sentence, imposing the 4 1/2-month penalty.
Dotzler said A&E Transport has since been bought out by Durham School Services, a national company that has no connection to the defendant despite bearing the same name.