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Office of the District Attorney P. David Soares Guilty Verdict for THOMAS CRONIN
ALBANY, NY – District Attorney P. David Soares today announced that THOMAS CRONIN, 52, of 56 Blue Spruce Lane, Ballston Lake, NY had plea guilty to one count of petit larceny and had agreed to full restitution to three victims including $2,500 to a victim in the City of Albany, $1,000 to a victim in Delmar, and $7,804 to a victim in Colonie. The indictment alleged that on multiple occasions CRONIN, between the dates of May 14 th, 2002 and October 18 th 2003, stole property by receiving funds on the false promise that he would construct sunrooms which he failed to do. In the Albany case covered by this plea agreement, CRONIN admitted to taking a deposit from the homeowner and consequently failing to perform any of the promised work. There are other cases in which CRONIN did perform work, albeit of disputed quality. These cases were ruled not to be governed by criminal statutes but may be pursued as part of civil proceedings. DA Soares was pleased with the result of the plea agreement. “Cases of this nature present formidable problems for prosecution. It is difficult to prove that a relationship which begins with a legitimate contract has turned into a criminal scheme. Even the smallest steps that the contactor takes, such as drafting a site plan or applying for a permit, can be used to argue against criminal intent. The way the law is written, in these types of cases the prosecution must prove to a higher standard than the more common “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard that we are all familiar with. In these cases, the law requires that the prosecutor’s prove “to a moral certainty” that the defendant intended to defraud the customer from the beginning. This is a significant challenge. “From the beginning of our prosecution of this case, our primary concern was to get full restitution for the victims of this unscrupulous contractor. We also intend to make the full transcript of the plea agreement available to any homeowner who chooses to seek a civil solution to their problems with this contractor,” he said. The prosecution of this case was handled by Christopher Baynes of the newly formed Public Integrity Unit. Back to Press Releases For further information contact: Richard Arthur
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