A former employee of the Staten Island District Attorney pleaded guilty on Monday to stealing from the office nearly half a million dollars meant for purchasing office supplies and instead using the funds to bankroll a lavish lifestyle.
William Nelson — ex-director of procurement in the DA’s office — was initially caught swindling $50,000 but officials discovered that was just part of a 10-year embezzle of more than $440,000 after seeing his Instagram posts where he bragged about the high-life he was living.
“I had access to the office credit cards and I used them for personal purchases, expenses,” Nelson admitted in Brooklyn federal court.
The 44-year-old embezzled the funds from 2006 through 2016 using the office American Express cards to pay for high-end cigars, alcohol, jewelry, handbags, fancy resort trips and golfing outings in Disney World, according to prosecutors.
Nelson also spent the stolen funds on a $100,000 knife collection, nearly $100,000 in Amazon purchases, $13,000 on pro sports tickets, and $72,000 on family vacations, according to prosecutors.
He was able to hide his scheme by filing the purchases under “special expenditures,” a category that is not closely monitored since it is used for confidential expenditures such as witness protection, the Department of Investigation has previously said.
The Staten Island man pleaded guilty to one count of theft of funds and faces up to 10 years in prison and over $440,000 in restitution at his Aug. 17 sentencing.
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