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December 17, 2007

Ex-Pawtucket committee member pleads no contest

Everett 'Ed' Dunn, the former Pawtucket School Committee member and licensed practical nurse accused of embezzling more than $200,000 from an elderly woman in his care, pleaded no contest this morning in return for assurance he would not have to spend time in jail.

Superior Court Judge Mark Pfeiffer said he would sentence Dunn to a one and a half years of home confinement as part of a 10-year sentence with 8 1/2 years suspended.

In addition, Dunn, 58, will be required to make restitution to the 91-year-old victim, reimbursing her for $140,000 of the $200,000 he was alleged to have embezzled that was never recovered.

A co-defendant, Gilbert Blais, 59, pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of receiving stolen property under $500, a misdemeanor reduced from a felony charge of receiving stolen property over $500. The charge will be filed after a year, according to Blais's attorney, Christopher Gontarz.

Dunn and Blais have been living in Florida since 2004, when a civil lawsuit alleging the embezzlement prompted Dunn to drop out of the race for the Pawtucket School Committee.

Dunn's lawyer, former Attorney General Jeffrey Pine, said Dunn plans to move back to Pawtucket, as part of the sentence, rent an apartment and work to pay off the debt.

-- By Journal staff write John Castellucci

Posted by Jack Perry  at 12:15 PM | Permalink

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joanne | December 17, 2007 6:20 PM link

stevn | December 18, 2007 6:56 AM link

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