John George appeals sentencing

Aug 5, 2015

Former Dartmouth Select Board member John George, who was sentenced to almost six years in prison following an April conviction on federal embezzlement and conspiracy charges, is appealing the sentence.

The Notice of Appeal, which is available through the U.S. District Court website, reads in full: “Now comes the above-named defendant, John George, Jr., and hereby appeals to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, the Judgment entered by this Court on July 30, 2015.”

George received the sentence on July 29. The appeal is dated July 31.

William Cintolo, George's defense attorney, was not available for comment.

Judge Denise J. Caspar of the United States District Court in Boston sentenced George to serve 70 months in prison plus three additional years of supervised release following his initial sentence. He also has to pay the Southeastern Regional Bus Company (SRTA) $688,772 in restitution.

George, who owned the Union Street Bus Company in New Bedford, was convicted on charges that he embezzled money from the company, which operated under SRTA and was subsidized with taxpayer funds. The corruption charges were in relation to George using bus company workers for John George Farms on Slocum Road and boosting his salary in order to receive an increased pension.

George received 60 months on the corruption charge and 70 months on the embezzlement charge to be served concurrently. He was given until September 23 to surrender himself to incarceration.

A decision regarding $1.3 million in forfeiture from George to SRTA involving management costs associated with George’s salary was pushed back to Aug. 13, as Caspar noted a need to identify the differences between the restitution costs and the forfeiture request by the prosecution.