Food Pantry Director
To Repay $18,000
COOPERSTOWN – The Cooperstown Food Pantry will get back the $18,000 stolen by its former director as part of Antoine Bourbon-Parme’s guilty plea, according to District Attorney John Muehl.
“He’s never been convicted of a crime and he’s making a payment up front,” said Muehl. “That’s what’s keeping him out of jail.”
Bourbon-Parme, 59, was arrested in April after an investigation found $18,579 missing from the organization’s accounts over 16 months between October 2017 and this January.
It was found he forged the names of Audrey Murray, retired director; Stacey Smith, director, and Sharon Oberriter, president, on eight checks, and deposited the checks in his own bank account.
The investigation also revealed that, as Anthony Gerard Cazzari, a.k.a. de Bourbon-Parme, he was arrested in 1999 in Lower Makefield, Pa., north of Philadelphia, and charged with stealing $300,000 from 12 victims across four states by posing as an interior designer.
Police said a Lower Makefield couple arranged for Bourbon-Parme to decorate two homes with furniture, wallpaper and draperies, but failed to deliver the promised items and services. Though charges were filed, he was never convicted of the crime.
During his sentencing on Friday, Aug. 27, Bourbon-Parme will plead to one count of grand larceny, fourth degree.
In addition to paying full restitution the day of his guilty plea, he will also be sentenced to probation for between 3-5 years, said Muehl.