Former Massachusetts Town Official Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud in Rhode Island

PROVIDENCE – A former chairperson of the Board of Tax Assessors for the Town of Dedham, MA, pleaded guilty in federal court in Rhode Island today to a charge of wire fraud, admitting that, while serving as a Dedham town official, real estate broker, tax preparer, and property manager for the River Island Condominium Association in Woonsocket, RI, she devised a scheme to access nearly $50,000 in Association funds for her own personal use, announced United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha.

Cheryl S. Sullivan, 68, of Dedham, MA, admitted that she used an Association debit card fifty-eight times to withdraw cash between January and November 2019, when she visited the Plainfield Park Casino in Plainfield, MA.

Casino records reflect that from January 4, 2019, to November 19, 2019, Sullivan gambled at the casino 176 times, almost every day. Bank records associated with the Condominium Association’s account reflect that there were sixty ATM withdrawals made from the account during the relevant time frame, of which fifty-eight of those occurred at the casino.  The withdrawals occurred on multiple dates that Sullivan’s personal debit card had been used at the casino to attempt to withdraw cash from her own account but was declined. The condo association debit card was then immediately used to withdraw cash.   

An investigation by the FBI, and the Plainville, MA, and Woonsocket, RI, Police Departments determined that Sullivan defrauded the Condo Association of a total of $49,156, of which, to date, nearly half has been paid back to the Association by the defendant.

Sullivan is scheduled to be sentenced on September 26, 2023. The defendant’s sentence will be determined by a federal judge after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John P. McAdams.

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