Syracuse, NY - Former lawyer Roger Scott could be facing a year in jail after being convicted Wednesday in a suburban shoplifting incident. Assistant District Attorney Brian Counihan said a Geddes Town Court jury found Scott guilty of petit larceny in the theft of $161.16 in merchandise from the Wegmans store in Fairmount last July. Counihan said he intends...
Roger ScottSyracuse, NY - Former lawyer Roger Scott could be facing a year in jail after being convicted Wednesday in a suburban shoplifting incident.
Assistant District Attorney Brian Counihan said a Geddes Town Court jury found Scott guilty of petit larceny in the theft of $161.16 in merchandise from the Wegmans store in Fairmount last July.
Counihan said he intends to ask Geddes Town Justice Daniel Mathews to sentence Scott to the maximum penalty of one year in jail based on the 76-year-old defendant’s history.
After the verdict, Mathews ordered Scott held in jail pending sentencing with bail set at $10,000 cash or $25,000 bond, the prosecutor said. Scott immediately acted as if he was having a heart attack and was taken to the hospital for an evaluation, Counihan said.
According to Counihan, Scott had taken books, DVDs, magazines and some food items and walked out of the store without paying for them July 5. A store employee had noticed Scott acting suspiciously and the employee then monitored Scott as he went through the store and left without paying, the prosecutor said.
Counihan said he had two store employees and two police officers testify for the prosecution in the trial that began Tuesday. The evidence also included a surveillance video that showed Scott in the store and leaving without going to a cashier, the prosecutor said.
Counihan said defense lawyer Robert Baska called two of Scott’s acquaintances who claimed Scott paid for the items. The defense contended the store doctored the tape to eliminate any sign of Scott at the cash register and that the U.S. Postal Service lost a piece of mail in which Scott sent the store receipt to the lawyer previously representing him in the case, the prosecutor said.
The jury rejected the defense arguments in finding Scott guilty. Scott had been charged as “Roger Blair” after producing a Florida driver’s license in that name when he was charged, authorities said.
Sentencing is set for June 7. Baska today she he did not want to discuss the case with sentencing still pending.
Scott, well-known for losing his Skaneateles home in a zoning battle and then being disbarred, also still has charges pending in Clay Town Court involving an ongoing neighbor dispute in Elbridge where he lives. That case was moved to Clay court to get it out of Elbridge, according to authorities.