A former Derby High School principal accused of stealing more than $13,000 from his union’s bank account saw a felony larceny charge against him dismissed Tuesday.
The former principal, Greg Gaillard, was arrested in February and charged with second-degree larceny after authorities alleged he misappropriated $13,200 from the administrators’ union, of which he was president.
Discrepancies with the union’s bank account were discovered shortly after Gaillard abruptly quit as Derby High School principal Dec. 9.
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Statements from two other Derby school principals in an arrest warrant allege Gaillard said he took the money because he was having financial problems.
At Superior Court in Derby Monday, a lawyer representing Gaillard said the former principal disputed the charges, but rather than clear his name at a trial, decided to apply for accelerated rehabilitation.
Prosecutors said they wouldn’t object.
The program is a special form of probation for first-time offenders which results in the charges against them being dismissed if they stay out of trouble.
“There are two sides to every story, and with regard to the issues with Mr. Gaillard’s role as president of the union, there’s a dispute on our end about whether or not this was done in the scope of his duties,” the lawyer, Keith Carroll, said.
Carroll said Gaillard was a “prime” candidate for the program, since he has no criminal record and is also a family man.
“Mr. Gaillard has a clean record prior to this incident, and we don’t expect that you’re going to see him in this courtroom ever again,” Carroll told Judge Peter Brown.
Carroll also said that the money allegedly stolen by Gaillard has been paid back to the union “to the penny.”
“That matter has been resolved,” he said. “We just want to move forward and put this behind him.”
The prosecutor in court Monday, Marjorie Sozanski, did not object to the judge granting Gaillard accelerated rehabilitation.
Good Cause?
But Judge Brown noted that second-degree larceny is a Class C felony, and that for a judge to grant AR for such a serious crime, “good cause” has to be shown.
“What would be the good cause?” the judge asked.
Carroll replied that the judge should grant Gaillard the program because there was a dispute as to the allegations.
“The scope of authority that was granted to him as the president of the union and the authority he had with regard to the use of funds,” the lawyer said. “There was union negotiations going on with respect to contracts for the administrators that Mr. Gaillard handled. Those funds, they could have been used to retain somebody to negotiate on behalf of the union.”
The lawyer didn’t say whether Gaillard actually did use the money to retain a negotiator, but said the results of the negotiations were two “of the most favorable contracts” the administrators had ever gotten.
“The union members were benefitted by Mr. Gaillard’s conduct,” Carroll said. “There is a dispute with respect to the use of funds, whether he had authorization to use those, and whether there was specific authorization under his role as president.”
“So the good cause that exists is that there was no harm,” the lawyer went on. “None of the victims have been harmed by this.”
The Valley Indy sent an email seeking comment Monday to Jennifer Olson, the principal of Irving School, who has taken over Gaillard’s role in the administrators union.
’Looking To Move Forward’
Asked by the judge if he had anything to say, Gaillard said “not too much.”
“I’m looking to move forward from this,” he added.
Judge Brown decided that while the allegations were serious, he didn’t think Gaillard would run afoul of the law again.
“It is a serious matter. I reviewed the warrant in finding probable cause,” the judge said. “But I do believe that what’s appropriate here is to grant accelerated rehabilation, and I’m going to find that all that Mr. Gaillard has been through, the association has been through to try to work through this, I think everyone’s learned something from this circumstance.
“That’s my take on it,” Judge Brown went on. “Therefore, I’m going to find there’s no need to impose a further period of accelerated rehabilitation, so I’ll dismiss the charge.”
Outside the courtroom, Gaillard’s lawyer said he disputed the theft allegation but was happy with the judge’s decision.
“We have a disagreement of the characterization from what was said in the warrant,” Carroll said. “But we’re looking to put this behind us and move forward.”
