Westchester County Center Parking Scam Suspects Plead Guilty

Three former county parks employees entered guilty pleas for their roles in a scam that resulted in the theft of tens of thousands of dollars from the Westchester County Center parking lot.

The Westchester County District Attorney’s Office announced today that Jahmai Samuel, 27, of the Bronx; Marcus Harris, 29, of Mount Vernon; and Alessia Velez, 28, of Queens; pleaded guilty to  grand larceny. Samuel and Velez entered their pleas today, while Harris entered his on Nov. 14.

Samuel, Harris and Velez are the principal defendants in an investigation into the theft thousands of dollars of MetroCard sales from the parking lot. Authorities said a total of 15 people were involved in the scam, which resulted in the theft of nearly $200,000.

The remaining twelve defendants are friends and relatives of the former employees.

From Aug. 13, 2009 to June 29, 2012, the former employees allegedly sold full-year, half-year, or quarterly parking permits to unsuspecting customers, who were told to write the check out to a “third party”, rather than Westchester County.

C ustomers were told that these “third parties” were trying to recoup a portion of their parking permit fee because they lost their jobs, or moved and no longer needed their parking space. The names given for these third parties were usually friends or family members of the suspects.

Samuel also took $10,000 in cash of Metro-North Railroad proceeds that the New York City Transit MetroCard Fraud Unit was able to document.

Samuel and Harris are out on $5,000 bail, while Velez was released on their own recognizance. Their sentencing is scheduled for March 6.

Harris faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, while Harris and Velez face a maximum prison sentence of seven years.