June 29, 2001

FORMER COUNTY WORKER INDICTED 

Trenton, NJ — A former employee of the Mercer County Park Commission was indicted today on charges of official misconduct and theft, Mercer County Prosecutor Daniel G. Giaquinto announced.

Sam Raymond (DOB 7/6/69), of the 1600 block of Richmond Avenue, Trenton, was indicted on two counts of second-degree official misconduct and one count of second-degree theft, Giaquinto said.  If convicted, Raymond could face 5 – 10 years of incarceration and a fine of up to $150,000 per charge, as well as the forfeiture of public employment for life.

An eight-month joint investigation by the prosecutor’s Economic Crime Unit and the Mercer County Park Commission revealed that Raymond, over the course of three and a half years, embezzled more than $75,000 from the Park Commission, whose annual revenues total approximately $4 million.

“This matter is extremely serious, not only because of the amount of money stolen, but also due to the breech of public trust,”Giaquinto stated.

Through an elaborate scheme of dummy bank deposit slips and substituting checks for cash, Raymond was able to pilfer approximately $50,000 from county golf course revenues.  The remainder of the stolen monies came from payroll, team entry fees, picnic permit fees and indoor tennis revenues.

Frank Ragazzo, executive director of the Mercer County Park Commission, confronted Raymond in October 2000 about additional money in Raymond’s paychecks.  According to payroll records,

Raymond had overpaid himself approximately $13,000 since 1997.  The following day, Raymond presented Ragazzo with his resignation and a check for the $13,000.  

Ragazzo contacted the prosecutor’s office shortly thereafter and the joint investigation ensued.

“This was a complex and tedious investigation due to the volume of documents that had to be reviewed,” Giaquinto said.  “Success would not have been possible without the diligence of the Park Commission and the expertise of our Economic Crime Unit.”

Raymond, an administrative analyst and assistant payroll supervisor for Park Commission, resigned on October 17, 2000.  He began his employment with the county sometime in 1992.

Assistant Prosecutor Doris Galuchie, chief of the Economic Crime Unit, presented the case to the grand jury.

Despite having been indicted, every defendant is presumed innocent until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.