by Ed Naile, Chairman
Picture yourself a Henniker selectman.
You need a new Road Agent and the town next door, Weare, has one willing to come to your town but he has been charged with stealing diesel fuel from the Weare town tanksoff and on from January 2008 to December 15, 2010.
As part of your job as a Henniker Selectman you hire the questionable road agent anyway.
That was in 2010 even after the alleged theft was made public.
Since then the new road agent’s wife has plead guilty to being part of the alleged fuel stealing scheme making it highly probable it did happen.
(Now remember this is municipal theft and the usual rules do NOT apply.)
Mrs. New Road Agent, as part of her plea deal, has been given a lenient sentence with the ability to serve on weekends.
So now the Henniker selectmen, in their capacity as the managers of the “prudent affairs” of the town, will have to come up with a way to deal with the potential loss of their shining new Road Agent while he serves time for Theft by Unauthorized Taking – should he lose his case at trial – which is questionable because the NH courts are inclined to let municipal theft go unpunished if at all possible.
So many dynamics in such a case are involved.
1. How can a NH court save a municipal employee from conviction? That is a large part of NH court decisions.
2. Can the court find the road agent not guilty even though his wife plead guilty to the same theft AND BOTH MADE RESITUTION? Or will they come up with some legal word-smithing to let the road agent go?
3. If the road agent is found guilty, shouldn’t the Henniker Selectmen be charged with Theft by Unauthorized HiringJ
Here is the real story – the way it works:
The Henniker Selectmen hired a guy who was under investigation for theft because it makes him their puppet.
He will in all probability keep his mouth shut about anything he sees in their Town yard.
And now you know.