Plea deal for FreeLake parent teacher organization embezzlers tabled for later date

WAREHAM — Zachary and James Granville-Wilmot admitted to stealing over $16,000 from the Freetown-Lakeville Middle School Parent Teacher Organization in court Thursday.

Judge Sabine Coyne tabled the two men’s guilty plea in Wareham District Court on Jan. 29, and asked them to return with an agreement to pay a larger up-front portion of the funds the defendants admitted to stealing from the PTO, a nonprofit organization. 

Zachary Granville-Wilmot, the former PTO treasurer, faces two counts of forgery of a check, two counts of uttering of a false check, embezzlement over $250 and conspiracy charges. James Granville-Wilmot is charged with conspiracy.

The charges were brought against the two Assonet men in September, after an investigation by the Lakeville Police Department. The case was assigned to Detective Robert Schiffer after the PTO reported missing funds in August. He discovered over $16,000 in fraudulent transactions occurred between May and June.

Schiffer said in his report two checks — one for $8,920.00 and one for $6,563.17 — were written and deposited by Zachary Granville-Wilmot, and bore what appeared to be the signature of former co-treasurer Lisa McLaughlin. After examining handwriting samples from McLaughlin and an analysis by the Plymouth County Sheriff's Office, the detective determined the signatures on the checks were forged. 

One of these checks was made out to James Granville-Wilmot, Zachary’s husband, who served as the volunteer coordinator for the PTO. 

Katelyn Martin, the organization’s president, also found a suspicious withdrawal in the amount of $1,018.00. The report states in a phone interview, Zachary Granville-Wilmot claimed the withdrawal — paid to DepositLink, a real-estate payment software — was mistakenly taken from the PTO account instead of his personal account. 

Zachary Granville-Wilmot also claimed the two checks were reimbursements for purchases he had made on behalf of the PTO. He said he purchased supplies and decorations for an eighth grade social that were unneeded after the organization changed the event’s theme. However, according to the police report both McLaughlin and former PTO President Amy Sypher denied his involvement in preparing for the social, and said a reimbursement check would never be for such large amounts. 

The evidence was presented to the Granville-Wilmots in court Thursday, and they agreed under oath the facts are true.

“For this significant amount of money, I want to see a significant amount paid up front,” Coyne said during the probable disposition at Wareham District Court.

During a disposition, the prosecution and defense bring the outcomes they wish to happen to the judge, who will then decide the resolution of the case — such as moving forward with setting a trial date, reaching an agreement without a trial or dismissing the case altogether. 

Coyne asked for 70% of the stolen funds to be paid up front, adding if the case were to go to trial, the Granville-Wilmots could serve jail time.

Coyne gave 60 days to table the plea, and defense attorney J. Drew Segadelli was granted an April 1 date to pick the matter back up.

The Granville-Wilmots, who are codefendants, will return to court in April where a new plea will be submitted or the case will go to trial.