Ex-Haverstraw village deputy mayor gets probation for stealing from nonprofit
NEW CITY - The former Haverstraw village deputy mayor was sentenced Monday to five years probation and ordered to pay restitution on her guilty plea to pilfering money from a nonprofit agency.
Emily Dominguez had pleaded guilty to felony fourth-degree grand larceny as part of a scheme with her sister and mother to steal $11,477 in funds and donations from the Rockland Community Foundation.
Emily Dominguez was once a foundation board member and former president. The foundation oversees and administers hundreds of charitable funds in Rockland.
Janice Dominguez: Sister of ex-Haverstraw village trustee sentenced for swindling nonprofit
DA statement: District Attorney's Office and Comptroller outline charges.
The charge outlined and the sentences
Judge Robert Prisco also sentenced her sister, Janice Dominguez, to five years probation on April 24. She gave the court two checks totaling $11,477 to cover the money stolen. Their mother, Luz Marina Gutierrez, 84, received an adjournment contemplating dismissal.
Emily and Janice Dominguez pleaded guilty in September 2022. The pair had denied wrongdoing and denounced the prosecution by District Attorney Thomas Walsh as politically motivated.
All three pleaded guilty as part of plea agreements with the Rockland District Attorney's Office following a 35-count indictment in October 2021 outlining schemes to steal $11,000.
But the sisters admitted in court that between March and October of 2020 they submitted 18 false receipts to the foundation for reimbursement of expenses. The grand larceny count covers the theft of between $1,000 and $3,000 in property. The felony carries a maximum prison term of four years and a minimum of no incarceration, at the judge's discretion.
Emily Dominguez was accused of running a scam in August 2019 through a pocketbook bingo fundraiser under the guise of raising money for the Haverstraw Neighborhood Fund backpack program.
Officials said people donated funds to attend the event, and those funds were deposited directly into a PayPal account for Emily Dominguez, who then transferred funds from three checks for $1,534 to her savings account.
Prosecutors charged that Dominguez and her mother submitted fake and inflated receipts to the foundation to be reimbursed for expenses between August 2017 and August 2019, which helped them steal $2,525.
Those receipts were phony, though, because no such food was ever provided, officials said, resulting in $4,963 in theft from the foundation, prosecutors said.
Janice Dominguez, who now lives in Bergen County, New Jersey, admitted forging a catering contract with Portobello's restaurant for food for residents and pocketed $4,963 paid by the foundation. There was no food provided and no contract. She formerly worked at the restaurant.
The District Attorney's Office investigated with the state Comptroller's Office.
"The former deputy mayor abused the trust of Haverstraw's citizens to steal from programs geared to help village residents in need, including those that provided backpacks of school supplies and holiday dinners," New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said in a statement.
Walsh said, "As an elected official, one has a duty to uphold the law and serve the community with integrity. Today's sentencing finalizes the criminal investigation, holds the elected official accountable for their actions, and provides restitution to the Rockland Community Foundations."
Emily Dominguez has claimed in Facebook posts that she's a victim of a political prosecution and posting unsubstantiated claims of corruption against unnamed elected officials in Haverstraw and elsewhere. She and her sister created the Facebook page Justice For All Rockland County. She has said she's writing a tell-all book about corruption in Rockland.
Dominguez has a pending multimillion-dollar federal civil rights lawsuit contending District Attorney's Office investigators injured her while using excessive force when arresting her after she left a courtroom hearing on theft charges.
Steve Lieberman covers government, breaking news, courts, police, and investigations. Reach him at slieberm@lohud.com. Twitter: @lohudlegal.
Read more articles and bio. Our local coverage is only possible with support from our readers.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Ex-Haverstraw NY deputy mayor gets probation for theft from nonprofit
