Hamden man gets 7 years in embezzlement case

MIDDLETOWN — A judge sentenced a Hamden man to serve seven years in prison Tuesday for embezzling more than $300,000 from couples in Milford and Durham who gave him the money thinking he was investing it for them.

Instead, 44-year-old Travis Smith burned through the cash by traveling to places like Myrtle Beach and on trips to Mohegan Sun casino — draining funds the victims were relying on for the future.

“Travis stole from us over and over and over again, until our entire account was depleted,” said one of the victims, detailing roughly $131,500 in thefts that she was unaware of until years after the fact.

“This was not a random crime and it wasn't a momentary lapse in judgment. This was deliberate and premeditated,” the Durham woman said. “I will never fully recover from this.”

The Milford couple, from whom he stole more than $200,000, had to move out of a house that had been in their family for generations, Judge Julia DiCocco Dewey later noted.

Standing in court Monday, Smith, a father of two with no prior record, turned to face the victims with tears in his eyes and apologized to them repeatedly during Tuesday's sentencing hearing.

“I sincerely apologize and I completely understand your pain,” he said. “I violated your trust.”

He said he stole the money to feed a growing gambling addiction and was too afraid to admit he had a problem, but said he was “in no way making any excuses for my actions.”

“I'm terribly sorry,” he said. “I know sometimes you may not believe that because of the pain that I caused, because I know I caused a whole lot of pain.”

He said he knew he betrayed the victims' trust.

“I've messed that trust up and I'm really, really sorry,” he said.

Several members of Smith's family asked the judge not to send him to prison Monday, noting that he was gainfully employed and could earn money to pay the victims back.

He had faced up to 12 years behind bars after pleading guilty to two counts of first-degree larceny.

Assistant State's Attorney Lawrence Scharpf asked the judge to sentence Smith to serve 11, saying Smith made no efforts at restitution until being caught.

Smith paid about $20,000 in restitution since pleading guilty, officials said.

“The victims have been hurt in immeasurable ways beyond their financial loss,” Scharpf said.

Smith's lawyer, Assistant Public Defender Kenneth Bunker, said his clients actions were “wrong and inexcusable,” but called the prosecutor's 11-year request “extreme.”

“It was a slippery slope that went very bad, and he deserves to be punished, but in a fair and balanced way,” he said, citing other cases with similar offers and Judicial Branch statistics that showed that since 2015, only two people have received sentences of more than 10 years for firstdegree larceny.

The stats showed 6.3 percent got six to 10 years, and 68.4 percent received three years or less, he said.

The judge later said it was hard to read much into the stats because they didn't show how many counts, thefts, and victims were involved in each case.

And while she said she credited his family's support, she noted the persistent nature of the thefts before handing down the sentence — 18 years to be suspended after seven, followed by five years of probation during which Smith must pay restitution to the victims.

“Over a period of years, on multiple occasions involving two separate victims, you took money,” Dewey said, noting details of the victims' losses. “You took advantage of their trust and their innocence.”

Smith was first charged in the case more than three years ago.

According to an arrest warrant written by Milford Police Detective Mitchell Warwick, the victim first complained to police in 2018, telling police that he met Smith about 10 years earlier after he obtained $6,500 the victim did not know he was entitled to through a life insurance policy.

The victim told investigators he eventually turned over about $350,000 to Smith, according to the warrant. On several occasions, the victim received money from Smith for things like property taxes, which helped build his trust.

However, in December 2017, Smith said he couldn't obtain money from the account because the company managing it had filed for bankruptcy, then transferred $206,867 of the victim's money to a limited liability company he controlled exclusively.

Police found evidence of the thefts from the Durham couple while investigating the Milford theft.

When questioned by police, Smith allegedly told investigators he mismanaged the money through “pure stupidity,” then tried to make it back at the casino and by purchasing abandoned storage units hoping to find highvalue items inside.