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Syracuse, NY — A former accountant for the Raymour & Flanigan furniture company admitted his guilt today in the theft of more than $126,000 from the company.
Anthony J. Caruso Jr., 37, of 4396 Princess Path, Clay, pleaded guilty before County Judge Joseph Fahey to a single felony count of second-degree grand larceny. He admitted stealing from the company from November 2010 through November 2011 while employed as an a company accountant.
Although Caruso only admitted to stealing more than $50,000 in entering his guilty plea, he agreed to pay $126,808.03 in restitution.
Because Caruso had made full restitution prior to today’s court appearance, Assistant District Attorney Matthew Dotzler agreed to have Fahey sentence Caruso to a conditional discharge. That means Caruso will avoid any jail time or the need to report regularly to a probation officer. He could have faced up to 15 years in state prison.
Sentencing is set for March 13.
Court papers filed in the case early last year charged Caruso with issuing company checks to fictitious people and then depositing the funds into his own personal banking account.
Court papers also indicated Caruso had been fired by Raymour & Flanigan after being confronted in November 2011 about a problem using company gift cards for his own benefit. A company official told authorities Caruso blamed his problems on gambling.
Caruso and defense lawyer Robert Tisdell left court without comment after Caruso’s guilty plea. Dotzler said the main concern of furniture company officials was to be reimbursed fully as quickly as possible. The prosecutor said he did not know where Caruso obtained the money to pay back.
The original article was published on syracuse.com, to read the article click here.