Ex-Kingston detective gets 3 to 9 years for thefts

Poughkeepsie Journal, poughkeepsiejournal.com
BYLINE: Larry Hertz, Poughkeepsie Journal,
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Kingston, NY

Former Ulster drug task force lieutenant admits stealing more than $200,000

KINGSTON — A former Kingston detective will spend up to nine years in state prison for stealing more than $200,000 from the city, Ulster County and a local bank, District Attorney Holley Carnright said.

State Supreme Court Justice Andrew Ceresia imposed a three-to-nine-year sentence Tuesday on Timothy Matthews.

Matthews was a lieutenant with the Ulster County Regional Gang Enforcement Narcotics Team when the thefts occurred.

He entered guilty pleas to two counts of grand larceny.

He admitted he had stolen more than $50,000 from the City of Kingston between Jan. 1, 2001, and Feb. 3, 2011, and more than $50,000 from Ulster County between March 2007 and December 2010.

Carnright said Matthews admitted stealing cash from an evidence vault and other city and county funds maintained by the gang task force.

He also admitted stealing about $10,000 from Ulster Savings Bank by falsifying records while he worked there as a security guard.

All told, Matthews stole about $212,000, the district attorney said.

Carnright called the thefts a “breach of trust both to the public and to the men and women who served with him.”

He said Matthews’ pension would be used to pay back the city, the county and the bank.

Matthews apologized in court for his crimes and said he agreed he deserved to spend some time behind bars.

Carnright said no other members of the gang task force were implicated in the crime.

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