Ex-Newtown police union
head sentenced
DANBURY -- One of two former Newtown police
officers charged with embezzling more than $180,000 from the Newtown police
union was sentenced to a six-month jail term by a state Superior Court
judge on Wednesday.
Andrew Stinson. 35, the union president from
2007 to 2010, "got over his head financially," his attorney, James Diamond,
told Judge John Blawie.
Stinson, who pleaded guilty in February to a
single count of first-degree larceny, has already repaid the $96,000 of his
fellow officers' money that he admitted taking, Diamond said.
The case of his co-defendant, former Sgt. Domenic Costello,
who has also pleaded guilty to first-degree larceny, was continued to
Wednesday.
"Andrew served the community as a police
officer for nearly 10 years and served with distinction," Diamond said.
"He has apologized to his fellow officers, and he's been embarrassed and
humiliated."
Costello, at the time the police union
treasurer, and Stinson, confessed to having "borrowed" the money to
stave off foreclosures on their respective homes and pay personal bills. Those
statements came during a meeting with the union's vice president and a Newtown
detective in October 2010, a few days after another officer expressed concern
about their stewardship of the accounts, according to court documents.
Both men were then suspended by Newtown
Police Chief Michael Kehoe
and submitted their resignations early last year.
An investigation conducted by Danbury police
detectives at the Newtown chief's request alleged that the two officers used
the union treasury as their personal piggy bank, withdrawing large amounts of
cash and depositing the money in their own or their wives' bank accounts.
Both were originally accused of multiple
counts of larceny, but they eventually each pleaded guilty to a single larceny
charge.
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