Cape SPCA Pres. Pleads Guilty

The president of the Cape May County SPCA has agreed to pay back $15,361 and resign after pleading guilty to theft. Dennis Kelly of Lower Township will get three years' probation for diverting SPCA money for personal use and to his private animal control business.

Kelly, who entered the plea Thursday, took $84,451 from SPCA operations over a four-year period ending in 1999 but repaid $74,500 of it, according to William Porter, an attorney for the state Division of Criminal Justice, which prosecuted the case.

He must repay the difference, plus interest.

Under questioning by Superior Court Judge Carmen Alvarez, Kelly admitted taking the money but said the municipalities he served as animal control officer reaped the benefits.

"Even though it was a misjudgment, and I will pay the price for it, the municipalities I covered benefited. For 22 years, I produced the best service, for the best cost, for the most people," he said afterward.

His case was an outgrowth of a 2001 report by the State Commission of Investigation on SPCAs, which charged that money and property were diverted from six of them.

Criminal charges have been brought against SPCAs in Bergen and Burlington counties as a result of the probe, according to Lee Seglem, a spokesman for the State Commission of Investigation.

Laura L. Smith, former treasurer of the Burlington County SPCA, has been indicted on theft charges for allegedly stealing $45,685 between 1993 and 1999.

Brothers Jason and Todd Peters have been charged with unlawful use of Bergen County SPCA funds, Seglem said.

The report said Kelly helped himself to SPCA money, using it to pay mortgages and personal loans without approval by the four-member board of directors.

Sentencing was set for April 26.

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Author: 6 ABC-AP