Ex-official arraigned in thefts at Tufts
A former Tufts University official accused of stealing about $600,000 from his employer used the money for trips to Paris, Montreal, New York, and Las Vegas and to buy luxury goods from places such as
Raymond Rodriguez, budget and fiscal coordinator for the Office of Student Activities between 2001 and 2007, pleaded not guilty yesterday at his arraignment before a clerk magistrate in Superior Court in Woburn, said Jessica Venezia, a spokeswoman for the Middlesex district attorney's office.
Josephine Nealley, director of the Office of Student Activities between 1996 and 2007, also pleaded not guilty yesterday in a separate case in which she is accused of taking about $370,000 from the university. Nealley used the money to make purchases at such places as Foxwoods Resort Casino, IKEA, Whole Foods, and Omaha Steaks, prosecutors said.
Rodriguez was indicted July 1 on two counts of larceny over $250. Nealley was indicted the same day on three counts of larceny over $250.
Nealley's lawyer, Howard Lewis, said that Nealley had denied Rodriguez a promotion and that he had anonymously reported to authorities "all these ridiculous things that she didn't do." Rodriguez "tried to implicate her in his own actions," Lewis said.
Rodriguez's lawyer, Steven Goldwyn, said, "In my opinion, it's wholly inappropriate and wholly unprofessional to have this case tried in the media. And I would urge the public not to rush to judgment but instead reserve judgment for when the facts come out in the natural course of the justice system."
