Essex County Prosecutor Michael Dulany, left, and Dawn Marie Medford, who was charged with two counts of theft of more than $250 and a single count of theft under $250. (WHAV News photograph.)
Haverhill Mayor James J. Fiorentini says his is “outraged” by the theft of approximately $4,000 allegedly by a former city employee.
The mayor said Dawn Marie Medford, 46, of Bradford, was fired, and the city is filing an insurance claim to recover the missing money.
“We identified the theft quickly and I called in an outside agency to do an audit to set up additional policies to help prevent this theft from happening again,” Fiorentini told WHAV in a statement. “I am outraged that anyone would steal money from the city,” the mayor said, adding “We intend to seek prosecution of this individual to the fullest extent of the law”
Fiorentini said the discrepancy was quickly discovered by other members of the city’s Treasurer and Collector’s office. He said he immediately placed Medford on leave while an investigation was launched and later fired her. “The city intends to seek reimbursement through the court for any amounts not recoverable by insurance,” the mayor said.
Medford, who at times worked in the city treasurer and collector’s office, was arraigned in Haverhill District Court late Tuesday morning on two counts of larceny over $250 and one count of larceny under $250. Assistant District Attorney Michael Dulany told Judge Patricia Dowling that city officials became aware of the thefts Oct. 11.
“She was the employee responsible for compiling and depositing checks and cash at the City of Haverhill,” said Carrie Kimball-Monahan, spokesperson for Essex County District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett. “On three occasions during her watch there was either checks, cash or checks and cash missing,” she said.
Medford worked in City Hall as a “floater,” working where and as needed in short-staffed city departments. She appeared in court after receiving a summons.
Medford was ordered to return to court Thursday, Feb. 16 for a pre-trial conference. She was not held on bail, but was told she could be held in the Essex County House of Correction for up to 90 days if she fails to appear for any subsequent court date. Saying she could not afford a lawyer, she was assigned a public defender, attorney Christian Colwell, of Methuen.
PS you gentlemen have a good week I’m off to Sunny Aruba for 10 days. I’m really going to miss the entertainment that you to offer…NOT.
Dummy Dummy goes to the Divi Divi…..
Jack ,Jack, Jack…what are from Lawrence? Or Mars?
I don’t particularly care for the mayor however the mayor did , in fact , aggressively and consistently participate in the downfall of Jim Flaherty , who is a shovel -stealing, dirt-pilfering scumbag.
I do have to agree with you that the city clerk’s office is very pleasant . I think this is twice in one week that you actually mustered the courage to say something nice about somebody who deserved it . I’m proud of you, you’re starting to show glimpses of adult Behavior .
@Duncan, WOW dude! You need two things really bad : to immediately copulate with a woman (or man…no judgement) and to get a checkup from the neck up!
Hey, Joe, or is it Jim?
First off, see that little word at the bottom of every comment here that says “Reply”? That is so you can respond directly to the person making a comment. It seems that it’s above your technical abilities, but try using it….there are two different people named Jack who comment here.
As mayor YOU only participated with doing anything about Flaherty’s thievery once the Atty General came knocking at your door. That is VERY well documented. To make claims to the contrary here are just more lies…everyone knows that.
Listen closely: Everyone…and I mean EVERYONE who works in city hall that has anything to do with you, mayor, hates their job. They can’t stand having to talk to you, or even seeing you and the miserable look you have plastered on your face all day, every day. There are LOTS of hard working, long time city employees working in departments all throughout the city, outside of city hall, who when they hit the age of retirement they continue to work. But NOT the employees in city hall departments that have to deal with you mayor. Proof of how extremely difficult it is for these hard working people to have anything to do with you is that once they hit the age of retirement they retire immediately. All of them!!! It’s like the end of a prison sentence for them.
The last few times I had a reason to go to that dept., not one person smiled or said hello. Everyone seemed to be miserable. I wonder why that is ? The City clerks office is totally opposite with people smiling and very personable and helpful. Maybe a change in leadership is in order ?
Who was the supervisor of this woman? How long had she worked in the Treasurer’s Office?
“Outraged”…lol. So a poor person living in a crummy section of Bradford commits a crime, and will probably be punished by the fullest extent of the law.
Meanwhile, “Big Pharma” mislabels, commits fraud, false advertises/markets, and what do they get? A fine, for a fraction of the profit made of drugs, that in some cases killed people. Or worse, are allowed to sell drugs that specifically warn on the labeling may cause you to kill yourself or others (anti-depressants/SSRI). None of course go to jail for either being convicted or agreeing to their crimes.
Wall Street of course has a long standing history of fraud, and since The S & L days, almost no one goes to jail. They even get to commit massive foreclosure fraud, which included crashing the entire global economy. What did they get? A BAILOUT and Federal Reserve policy to benefit them, as well as future legal protections now called systemically important financial institution – Too Big To Jail.
What is the difference between Dawn Medford and the other two? Dawn has contributed exactly zero in political campaign contributions. The others? Hundreds-of-millions of campaign contributions and other perks to State Legislators and CONgress Members, ESPECIALLY THOSE POLITICIANS RIGHT HERE IN AND FROM MASSACHUSETTS.
This isn’t to say Dawn Medford shouldn’t punished for her crime, but hopefully the judge and/or DA’s office will for once look at the bigger picture and how we got to where we are today when it comes to CRIME & PUNISHMENT.
Let us not forget the Hale Hospital ‘theft” of millions of dollars that the resident taxpayers of Haverhill have had to absorb and continue to do so. The Mayor knew of this theft back then. Was he as “outraged: then as he is now ? Don;t think so as all the rats jumped off of that sinking ship and said nothing to nobody about it. Swept it under the rug they did until it was too late to recoup any of the residents money. I guess the outrage is subject to interpretation.
Haverhill DPW Director James Flaherty was ripping off the City of Haverhill for “years” and the mayor turned a blind eye to the thievery being committed by his friend. The phony mayor knew all about the pattern of theft being done by Flaherty, but chose to do nothing about it. He wasn’t “outraged”…anything but. His lack of commitment to protect the interests of Haverhill taxpayers was so egregious it took an investigation by the State Attorney Generals office to uncover the wrongdoing by Flaherty. Someone working in Haverhill intentionally “dropped a dime” to the State AG’s office because the corrupt mayor refused to do anything about it.
And now? Now the mayor can be seen often having breakfast with his buddy Flaherty at Mark’s Deli…Flaherty knowing full well the mayor was his protector and it wasn’t his fault regarding his prosecution and denial of his pension.
How come the mayor wasn’t “outraged” when 30 Haverhill fire fighters conspired to steal $1,800 each from the city? They are essentially all Felons but the mayor did absolutely nothing to punish them.
It’s an election year for the mayor. We’ll see lots of phony headlines of “outrage” from this corrupt, incompetent hack.