Man accused of embezzling $200K rejects plea deal

STAMFORD — A Redding man accused of embezzling more than $200,000 from a Wilton company on Wednesday rejected a state offer of six years in prison in return for pleading guilty to a felony larceny charge.

Raymond Sanzone, 54, rejected an offer on Wednesday to plead guilty to first-degree larceny in return for a 15-year prison sentence, suspended after six years, and five years of probation.

Following the rejection, attorney Wayne Keeney, who represents Sanzone, asked for the case to be placed on the jury trial list.

Sanzone was arrested by Wilton police in October 2020 on 14 counts each of first-degree identity theft and third-degree forgery, as well as a single count of first-degree larceny.

According to the arrest warrant, Sanzone allegedly embezzled about $212,000 from a Wilton-based company between 2018 and 2020.

In 2014, Sanzone was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree larceny in a separate embezzlement scheme where he overcharged schools and municipalities by more than $500,000 in commissions for arranging energy suppliers.

Among the private institutions that lost funds were Wooster School in Danbury, Canterbury School in New Milford and The Gunnery in Washington.

As a part of the 2014 plea agreement, Sanzone was ordered to pay nearly $350,000 in restitution.

Following his arrest in 2020, Sanzone was also charged with violation of probation. Supervisory State’s Attorney Michelle

Manning said his noncompliance with his restitution payment plan was also a factor in the re-arrest.

Sanzone faces five-and-ahalf years in prison for the violation of probation charge. His hearing on the matter is scheduled for Sept. 21 at the Superior Court in Waterbury.

In April, Sanzone received a stern reprimanding from Supervisory State’s Attorney Michelle Manning, who said the state was weighing the new charges after Sanzone allegedly sent an email to the victim that asked if they “could sit down and work out” their differences outside of court.

Following that incident, Judge Gary White ordered Sanzone to have no further contact with any victims in the case.

If Sanzone violates this new condition of release, he would be subject to rearrest.