By Shira Schoenberg
The Concord Monitor
CONCORD, N.H. — A former fire chief in Webster and deputy fire chief in Concord pleaded guilty yesterday to misusing city-issued credit cards.
Shawn Mitchell, 37, of Webster, had faced 25 charges in Concord for using city credit cards to buy fire equipment for Webster as well as for personal purchases. He pleaded guilty before Merrimack County Superior Court Judge Larry Smukler to one charge of theft by unauthorized taking and one charge of fraudulent use of a credit card. The rest of the charges were dropped.
Mitchell also faces 16 charges in Webster for allegedly using a Webster credit card to buy online pornography. Those charges are still pending. Attorneys for the state and for Mitchell would not comment on whether a plea deal was expected.
“Aspects of the charges are troubling with regard to the allegations that are pending,” said Mitchell’s attorney, Mark Sisti. “He’s not changing his plea of not guilty.”
Mitchell will be sentenced in the Concord case in March and could face up to a year in the Merrimack County jail. Attorneys from both sides said they expect the Webster charges to be resolved by then.
According to the indictment, Mitchell charged $830 to credit cards issued by the city of Concord and the Concord Fire Department for unauthorized purchases between June 1, 2005, and July 1, 2006. Among the purchases was a $175 kit of lights from a fire and police supply store, a backpack leaf blower, two garden hoses, a broom, seven cones, two cans of WD-40, a box of trash bags, a wireless keyboard and mouse, a printing calculator, and an ink cartridge.
Mitchell also pleaded guilty to taking property belonging to the Concord Fire Department and bringing it to Webster. The equipment included a pediatric care pack, axes, headsets, an infrared thermometer, and search-and-rescue vests. The cost of the equipment is not listed in the indictment, but the previous charges alleged Mitchell spent a total of nearly $14,000 of city money.
Acting on behalf of Merrimack County, Sullivan County Attorney Marc Hathaway said the Concord Fire Department reported its suspicions to the Concord police in May 2006, after staff noticed a number of “unauthorized and irregular” purchases. Working with Webster officials, the police found equipment that Mitchell bought with Concord’s money at the Webster Fire Department. Hathaway said that the equipment was expensive and that Mitchell likely would not have been able to get permission to buy it. Mitchell told the Webster department that he obtained the equipment through donations, though there was no record of any donations, Hathaway said.
According to the terms of the plea deal, the state will ask that Mitchell be sentenced to 12 months in jail. Sisti said he will ask for less than 12 months.
Both sides have agreed to a suspended five- to 10-year state prison sentence, five years of probation, $830 in restitution to Concord minus the value of any items that are recovered, and random screening for drug and alcohol use. Mitchell will lose any licenses and certifications that he holds in firefighting, emergency medical care and law enforcement, and he will not be allowed to be employed in any of those fields.
Mitchell replied in a steady voice to each of the judge’s questions regarding whether he understood the plea. Asked whether he knew what his sentence could be for the charges if he did not plead, Mitchell answered that the theft charge carried a 7 1/2- to 15-year sentence and the credit card charge a 3 1/2- to seven-year sentence, both in state prison.
Mitchell’s wife attended the hearing and declined to comment.
Hathaway would not comment on the plea deal, because the sentencing was still pending. He said only that he was “tremendously impressed with the professionalism” of the Concord and Webster fire and police departments during the investigation.
Both attorneys also agreed on a motion to return seized property to the Concord Fire Department. Fire Chief Dan Andrus said that the department expected to get the property back within a day and that it would be returned to use immediately.
City Manager Tom Aspell said the city had not pursued an insurance claim, because it preferred to get the equipment back and put it into circulation. Aspell said he would comment further after the sentencing.
“Based on the information I have, we’re satisfied with the way things are going,” he said.
The state fire marshal’s office had previously named Mitchell as a suspect in an arson in Webster in April 2006. District Chief Max Schultz said the investigation remains open. Its status has not changed, but there is no activity on the case right now, he said.
Sisti said there is “no arson in Webster with regard to my client.”
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