By REBECCA EVERETT
@GazetteRebecca
Daily Hampshire Gazette
NORTHAMPTON — A former employee of Dietz Construction of Easthampton admitted in Hampshire Superior Court yesterday that he misused a company credit card and stole equipment from his employer to pawn.
Andrew Dufresne, 42, who lived in Charlemont at the time of the crime, was sentenced to state prison for three to six years as part of a plea agreement. He pleaded guilty to charges of larceny over $250 by a single scheme, credit card fraud over $250, larceny over $250, larceny under $250, and eight counts of receiving stolen property over $250.
Judge C. Jeffrey Kinder sentenced him to 11 concurrent state prison sentences — two of four to six years and nine of three to five years — as well as one concurrent House of Correction sentence of one year.
Dufresne admitted that while he worked for Dietz Construction between April 2013 and January 2014, he charged $5,297.09 in personal gasoline purchases to a company credit card that was only supposed to be used to pay for fuel for company vehicles.
Assistant Northwestern District Attorney Jayme Parent said in court that Dufresne was fired in January 2014 when his employer discovered the scheme. He became a suspect when his employer noticed that thousands of dollars of company equipment was missing between December 2013 and January 2014, when the company was moving it from its building on Industrial Parkway to storage trailers across the street. Police found that Dufresne had pawned the equipment, including a $3,100 vibratory hammer that had been taken from the Dietz Construction headquarters during a break-in on Jan. 13, 2014.
In court yesterday, Dufresne’s attorney, John Heyman of Northampton, said his client wants to take responsibility for his actions and resolve the court case, partly because he has “bigger fish to fry in New Hampshire.”
According to media reports, Dufresne faces charges related to a bank robbery in Manchester, New Hampshire, on April 11, 2014.
Parent said Dufresne has a “relatively significant record,” including previous larceny and receiving stolen property convictions. Parent said she did not seek restitution because Dietz Construction had an insurance policy which covered its losses.
Rebecca Everett can be reached at [email protected].
