Investor Pleads Guilty,

Faces 4-12 Years In Jail

Cooperstown Man Misused Funds

From Estate, Attorney General Says

ALBANY – Albany area financial adviser Tom Lagan, who lives in Cooperstown and has investments in the area, pleaded guilty to a charge that could bring him 4-12 years in jail, state Attorney General Letitia James announced today.

Lagan pleaded guilty before Albany County Supreme Court Judge Thomas Breslin to grand larceny, first degree, a Class B felony, James said in a press release.  Sentencing is scheduled for June 19.

Lagan was one of three partners in plans to build a downtown Cooperstown hotel in 2015, and was also an investor in the Paterno Brothers building on Main Street, the Elm Inn in Milford and other ventures.

According to the complaint, Lagan and attorney Richard Sherwood, a Guilderland town justice, used funds from the estate of  philanthropists Warren and Pauline Bruggeman, prominent RPI benefactors, and Bruggeman family members for their own purposes.

Both men were arrested last spring, and Sherwood pleaded guilty June 11, 2018, to grand larceny, second degree.