Toll collector pleads guilty to larceny

By Stefanie Geisler, Globe Correspondent

A Massachusetts Turnpike toll collector pleaded guilty today to skimming more than $1,000 from motorists between October 2007 and May 2008.

King Chan, 52, of Wellesley pleaded guilty in Suffolk Superior Court to one count of larceny over $250 and 10 counts of making false entry into corporate books, Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley's office said.

"This wasn't pocket change," Conley said in a statement. "This was a public employee who used a state tollbooth as his private slush fund. That behavior won't be tolerated, especially not at a time when our state agencies need every cent they can make."

Chan was sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to pay full restitution. He will also lose his job and pension, Conley said.

Chan is one of 10 toll collectors charged in June 2008 with pocketing money from motorists. He is the sixth to plead guilty.

Justin Ruggiero, 28, of Bradford and Cheung Wan, 69, of Randolph are scheduled to appear in Suffolk Superior Court later this year. Charges against two others have been temporarily withdrawn as prosectuors review additional evidence, according to Conley's office.

"There are part-time toll takers who make more than first-year prosecutors," Conley said. "This was a crime of cynical opportunism, not financial need."