A Putnam County consumer affairs official pleaded guilty today to theft.
Jean Noel, director of the Department of Consumer Affairs, pocketed $4,575 in cash from contractors who had been fined for operating without business licenses.
Noel entered a guilty plea of petit larceny in Carmel Town Court. Judge Joseph J. Spofford Jr. sentenced her to a one year conditional discharge.
She agreed to quit her job, as part of a plea agreement, and pay back a portion of her salary. She has already paid $4,300 for the thefts, according to a press release from Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman.
The state comptroller”™s office identified discrepancies in a 2014 audit. State police and investigators for the state attorney general also investigated.
“This arrest should serve as a reminder that those who choose to abuse their public position will be brought to justice,” said state police Supt. Joseph A. D”™Amico.
A conditional discharge means her record will be clean? For stealing from the public through her job? She deserves to at least have a record, if not some weekends in jail….