Westchester DA: Former Employees Stole Thousands of Dollars from County Parking Lot

Former county parks employees Jahmai Samuel, 27, of the Bronx; Marcus Harris, 29, of Mount Vernon; Alessia Velez, 28, of Queens; and Sha’Quay Cheeseboro-Dennis, 23, of Mount Vernon, were indicted and arraigned on counts of grand larceny today for allegedly stealing thousand of dollars from the parking lot at the Westchester County Center in White Plains.

The indictments came after a yearlong investigation by the Westchester County Police and District Attorneys Public Integrity Bureau.

In addition to the employees, 10 people identified as family members and friends of the former employees were also charged with grand larceny for their role in the scheme.

“This type of criminal conduct serves only to erode the public’s trust and confidence in its government,” said District Attorney Janet DiFiore. “Alert policing by the NYPD and follow up detective work by the Westchester County Police uncovered the extent and scope of the ongoing larceny. What makes this scheme all the more egregious is that these defendants thought that they could get away with their crime because they were stealing from some nameless, faceless entity with limitless financial resources; when in actuality, they were defrauding every taxpayer of Westchester County.” .

From Aug. 13, 2009 to June 29, 2012, the former employees allegedly sold full-year, half-year, or quarterly parking permits to unsuspecting customers, who were told to write the check out to a “third party”, rather than Westchester County.

Customers were told that these “third parties” had lost their jobs, or moved and no longer needed their parking space and were trying to recoup a portion of their parking permit fee. The names given for these third parties were usually friends or family members of the suspects.

Investigators also alleged that Samuel took $10,000 in cash of Metro-North Railroad proceeds that the New York City Transit MetroCard Fraud Unit was able to document.

“This is a violation of the public’s trust,” county Executive Robert Astorino said in a statement. “As soon as allegations surfaced, I made sure the county moved quickly to find out the full extent of the problem and take the steps necessary to prevent it from happening again. Theft in any form cannot be tolerated and we must always be vigilant to prevent it.”

County officials discovered the scheme after Samuel was shot during a robbery in the Bronx on June 29. When the NYPD questioned Samuel about why he was in possession of $3,000 cash, he maintained that the money was customer parking cash receipts from his job which “he forgot to take to the bank after work.”

The robbery investigation prompted questions about why a county parks employee would have that much money in parking proceeds in their possession.

Members of Jahmai Samuel’s family who were charged with grand larceny for allegedly depositing the proceeds into their bank accounts include his sister, Jennifer Samuel, who deposited $15,215; his stepmother, Desrine Butler, who deposited $11,015; and his aunt, Annette Timothy, who deposited $20,190.

Samuel’s friends Arthur Cowans and Hodnett Morrison, were also charged with grand larceny for depositing the stolen funds into their bank accounts. Cowans allegedly deposited $3,255 and Morrison allegedly deposited $2,085.

A group of people identified as being friends of Marcus Harris were also arrested and charged with grand larceny. Their names are Wayne Rutty, who allegedly stole $7,325; Bejesca Matthew, a former girlfriend of Harris who allegedly stole $4,155; Michaele Fortunat, who stole $6,895; Denisha Dennis, who stole $2,170; and Antwon Pinney, who stole $3,255.