Deal Possible In Scanlon Case?

FILEThe lawyer representing Sharon Scanlon, the former Shelton official accused of stealing nearly $1 million from taxpayers over the course of more than a decade, hinted Wednesday that there could be movement in the case in October.

Scanlon was due at Superior Court in Milford Wednesday (Aug. 28), her seventh court date in the case, but left without appearing before a judge.

Nothing has happened — that has been made public, anyway — in the case since Scanlon pleaded not guilty nearly six months ago.

Her attorney, William F. Dow, met behind closed doors in the courthouse Wednesday while Scanlon sat in the lobby.

Dow emerged at the end of the pow-wow and said the case had been continued to Oct. 2.

Asked whether she would take a plea bargain in the case or face the charges at a trial, Dow said: Everything will be addressed Oct. 2.”

Asked if a plea offer had been made, Dow repeated Oct. 2,” declining to comment further.

Lawlor, too, declined to say much about the case Wednesday.

We had some discussions with the judge,” the prosecutor said.

Scanlon was arrested in January by state police in the case, and faces a single count of first-degree larceny and 56 counts of first-degree forgery. She is free on a $100,000 bond.

Formerly the second-in-charge in the city’s finance office, Scanlon is accused of embezzling $914,153.50 between 2001 and July 2012.

Lawlor said the case was continued without Scanlon having to face a judge as a professional courtesy” to Dow, who had to leave court to attend to another matter.

Mayor: We Want Our Money Back

Mayor Mark Lauretti said Wednesday said he hasn’t been informed of any details of how the criminal case against Scanlon may be resolved.

We’ve been more focused on recovering our financial losses,” Lauretti said, referring to a lawsuit the city filed against Scanlon last September. We’re doing pretty good.”

Weeks after the lawsuit was filed, a judge agreed to the city’s request to put a lien on Scanlon’s Crescent Drive home.

In February the city filed a motion in the civil case seeking to compel Scanlon to disclose, under oath, property she owns or has an interest in, and any debts due her.

A judge has not ruled on the city’s motion in the civil case, and there have been no other developments in the matter since February.

Ramon Sous, Shelton’s assistant corporation counsel, said Tuesday that not much can be done with respect to the lawsuit until the criminal case plays out.”

The mayor said Wednesday he thinks the city will recover about 80 percent of our losses,” but wouldn’t divulge how he arrived at that estimate.

I really can’t (say much about it),” Lauretti said. The courts move within their own pace and their own jurisdiction. You’ve just got to sit back and let them do what they’ve got to do.”

Asked if he thinks Scanlon should have to go to jail — after all, she’s accused of stealing nearly four times as much taxpayer money as former Oxford tax collector Karen Guillet, who is serving a four-year prison sentence — Lauretti was non-commital.

For me restitution is important,” he said. I’d like the taxpayers to be made whole.”

Photo: Ethan FryBackground

The allegations against Scanlon first came to light a year ago, when Lauretti revealed Scanlon had resigned under threat of termination amidst a state police investigation of hundreds of thousands of dollars missing from the city’s finance office.

By that point Scanlon had been under a cloud of suspicion for about two months, after two clerks in the finance office found a voided check on Scanlon’s desk for $7,825 and nothing else written on it, according to the arrest warrant in Scanlon’s criminal case.

The clerks wrote down the check number and decided to follow up on it. When bank records arrived about a week later, they discovered the check had been made out to Scanlon, who was in charge of reconciling the city’s bank accounts.

A week after the state police probe was revealed publicly, detectives showed up at City Hall and seized computers and other evidence from the finance office.

At the time the alleged scheme was uncovered, Scanlon was Shelton’s assistant finance director. Her boss, Louis Marusic, was put on administrative leave and later retired, though he wasn’t a suspect in the theft.

The five-month investigation that culminated in Scanlon’s arrest revealed deficiencies in the city’s system of checks and balances that Lauretti said have since been addressed to provide more oversight and duplication of efforts.”

The arrest warrant for Scanlon is posted below.

Sharon Scanlon State Police Affidavit by ValleyIndyDotOrg

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