WOW....WT _ are people thinking these days???
This just posted to Newsday.com:
'Brookhaven's town clerk and her husband acted as co-conspirators in a wedding mill that manipulated town employees and defrauded more than 1,100 couples out of thousands of dollars in extra marriage fees, prosecutors said yesterday.
Pamela and Irwin Betheil, of Mount Sinai, were charged at Criminal Court in Riverhead .
Pamela Betheil, 63, faces seven charges including a top charge of criminal possession of a forged instrument, a felony that carries a maximum penalty of 2 1/3 to 7 years in prison.
Irwin Betheil, 67, faces four charges, including scheming to defraud which carries a maximum of up to 1 1/3 to 4 years.
The attorney for the couple, James O'Rourke of Hauppauge, adamantly denied the charges and entered a not guilty plea for both at their arraignment.
Pamela Betheil is accused of charging $200 per wedding for services held outside town hall when laws limited her to $75.
She also illegally used the town clerk's office workers to help line up weddings conducted at town hall just after the close of business, Suffolk County prosecutor Mark Murray said. She charged $75 each for those weddings, he said.
Irwin Betheil acted as Betheil's 'wedding coordinator and booking agent,' Murray said. 'The only things they lacked were a couple of neon signs and Elvis in a jumpsuit,' he said.
The couple said little during their brief court appearance. The Betheils were released on recognizance after the appearance before Judge Stephen Braslow.
O'Rourke said the charges are a waste of the district attorney's resources, adding Pamela Betheil returned between $12,000 to $14,000. Murray later called that amount a 'conservative' estimate of the overcharge.
But O'Rourke said prosecutors were attempting to make the Betheils out to be 'Bonnie and Clyde of the marrying kind' and that the case is 'insignificant.'
The weddings occurred between January 2006 and April of this year, prosecutors said.
Some couples, alleged victims, say not all of the money has been returned. Erin Carpenter of Patchogue said she and her husband were married by Betheil more than a year ago and she still hasn't been paid back.
'It's the principle for us. It's not a nice thing to think of your wedding day as part of a fraud investigation,' Carpenter said.
Murray said Pamela Betheil 'used the staff and resources of the town clerk's office to help schedule ceremonies that lined her own pocket.' The town employees who participated in the scheduling will not face charges.
Pamela Betheil is scheduled to step down as town clerk when her term expires at the end of the month. The position this year paid $92,300.'
I just cant believe all the deception that is going on all around us... Doesnt anybody know how to be honest anymore???
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'Brookhaven's town clerk and her husband acted as co-conspirators in a wedding mill that manipulated town employees and defrauded more than 1,100 couples out of thousands of dollars in extra marriage fees, prosecutors said yesterday.
Pamela and Irwin Betheil, of Mount Sinai, were charged at Criminal Court in Riverhead .
Pamela Betheil, 63, faces seven charges including a top charge of criminal possession of a forged instrument, a felony that carries a maximum penalty of 2 1/3 to 7 years in prison.
Irwin Betheil, 67, faces four charges, including scheming to defraud which carries a maximum of up to 1 1/3 to 4 years.
The attorney for the couple, James O'Rourke of Hauppauge, adamantly denied the charges and entered a not guilty plea for both at their arraignment.
Pamela Betheil is accused of charging $200 per wedding for services held outside town hall when laws limited her to $75.
She also illegally used the town clerk's office workers to help line up weddings conducted at town hall just after the close of business, Suffolk County prosecutor Mark Murray said. She charged $75 each for those weddings, he said.
Irwin Betheil acted as Betheil's 'wedding coordinator and booking agent,' Murray said. 'The only things they lacked were a couple of neon signs and Elvis in a jumpsuit,' he said.
The couple said little during their brief court appearance. The Betheils were released on recognizance after the appearance before Judge Stephen Braslow.
O'Rourke said the charges are a waste of the district attorney's resources, adding Pamela Betheil returned between $12,000 to $14,000. Murray later called that amount a 'conservative' estimate of the overcharge.
But O'Rourke said prosecutors were attempting to make the Betheils out to be 'Bonnie and Clyde of the marrying kind' and that the case is 'insignificant.'
The weddings occurred between January 2006 and April of this year, prosecutors said.
Some couples, alleged victims, say not all of the money has been returned. Erin Carpenter of Patchogue said she and her husband were married by Betheil more than a year ago and she still hasn't been paid back.
'It's the principle for us. It's not a nice thing to think of your wedding day as part of a fraud investigation,' Carpenter said.
Murray said Pamela Betheil 'used the staff and resources of the town clerk's office to help schedule ceremonies that lined her own pocket.' The town employees who participated in the scheduling will not face charges.
Pamela Betheil is scheduled to step down as town clerk when her term expires at the end of the month. The position this year paid $92,300.'
I just cant believe all the deception that is going on all around us... Doesnt anybody know how to be honest anymore???
