May 4, 2010 - NEWARK, NJ—Former Pfister Maintenance Inc. controller Scott Riker was sentenced today to 30 months in prison for stealing approximately $150,000 from his employer and using the money to pay personal expenses, United States Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
On October 23, 2009, Riker, 41, of Hawthorne, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before United States District Judge Stanley R. Chesler to a one-count Information charging him with mail fraud. Judge Chesler also imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court. At his plea hearing, Riker admitted that between April and December 2008, he defrauded Pfister of approximately $150,000 by issuing and using checks drawn on his employer’s accounts to pay for personal items, including payments on his personal credit card and the purchase of his personal vehicle. In order to conceal the unauthorized payments, Riker altered the named payees in Pfister’s books and records to make it appear as if the checks were for legitimate business purposes.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Chesler sentenced Riker to three years of supervised release, during which Riker cannot hold any position in which he has access to a company’s finances.
In determining an actual sentence, Judge Chesler consulted the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines, which provide appropriate sentencing ranges that take into account the severity and characteristics of the offense, the defendant’s criminal history, if any, and other factors. Parole has been abolished in the federal system. Defendants who are given custodial terms must serve nearly all that time.
Fishman credited Special Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Ward, with the investigation leading to today’s sentence.
The Government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lorraine Gerson of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark.
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