WHITE PLAINS, NY — Former school secretary Marisol Martell, 38, pleaded guilty today before Judge Susan M. Capeci in Westchester County Court to Grand Larceny Third, a Class C Felony and Petit Larceny, a Misdemeanor. She was released on a $3,500 Cash Bond.
Martell is due back in Westchester County Court on February 20th.
Marisol Martell of Elmsford was arraigned a year ago, February 18th, on a 49-count felony complaint in New Rochelle City Court on charges related to her theft of money from the New Rochelle School District while working as a school secretary.
The complaint charged one count of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree as a Crime of Public Corruption, a class C felony; one count of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a class D felony; and 47 counts of Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree, each a class D felony.
At her arraignment in 2018 Martell was ordered to surrender any and all firearms she owned or possessed to the Greenburgh Police Department, the town where she resides. Bail was set at $3,500 cash/$7,500 bond.
The felony complaint alleged that from October 2012, through February 2017, Martell used her positon to steal over $35,000 from the City School District of New Rochelle. In large part, the defendant stole these funds from the district by taking 45 school district paychecks, each made payable to other staff members. In total, the defendant took school district paychecks made payable to 15 separate staff members, many of whom were part-time employees and athletics coaches. After the defendant stole a check, she forged the staff member’s signature on the back of the check and deposited the City School District of New Rochelle funds into her personal bank accounts.
Further, and in an attempt to conceal her crimes, the defendant also forged the school district Athletics Director’s name upon two false business records: a fraudulent School District Consultant Agreement and a fraudulent School District Requisition Purchase Order. These two false records alone allowed the defendant to obtain over $4,000 from the district that she then used in an attempt to conceal a series of earlier thefts.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Brian F. Fitzgerald, Deputy Chief of the Public Integrity Bureau.