A state judge on Monday added 20 months to the 42-month federal sentence of a disgraced Bristol attorney who pocketed $1.4 million in charity funds meant to help veterans and their families.
Kevin Creed is to serve the state sentence for first-degree larceny consecutively with federal punishment previously imposed, for a total of 62 months behind bars.
The former state trooper and decorated military veteran had pleaded guilty in federal court to wire fraud for diverting money from a fundraiser for construction of a Fisher House near the Veterans Administration Medical Center in West Haven. The facility ultimately was built when the national Fisher House organization put up funding, and it now provides free temporary housing for up to 16 veterans and their families while the vets are receiving treatment.
In November, soon after his federal sentencing, state inspectors arrested Creed on the first-degree larceny charge for embezzling $985,000 he had collected, authorities said. The entire $1.4 million that Creed stole did not fall under a five-year statute of limitations, state officials said.
Creed pleaded guilty to the larceny charge in New Britain Superior Court on Monday before Judge Maureen Keegan, who stayed the state sentence until Creed surrenders to federal custody. She then raised Creed’s bond from $250,000 to $1 million and he was taken into state custody pending his transfer to federal prison authorities, officials said.
Creed, who rose to the rank of major in the U.S. Army and served for more than 20 years, set up the charity in 2010 and initially turned over about $1 million from a series of small fundraisers, donations and appeals to VFW and American Legion posts across the state.
But after a few years, he began pocketing money to cover mortgages on his Litchfield Home, loans and his law firm’s expenses, prosecutors have said.
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