Cumberland Police seek embezzlement charges for alleged computer thefts

CUMBERLAND — Robert “Bob” Legacy, former director of information technology for the Cumberland school district, could face stiffer criminal  charges in connection with missing computers from Cumberland High School.
Legacy and his son, 20-year-old Kevin Legacy, were both arrested in April after an investigation into missing computers at the high school.

Police believe that the younger Legacy, who worked for a company that was hired to install computers within the Mendon Road school, stole the computers and gave them to his father to sell to school employees.
Robert Legacy has been charged with 18 felonious counts of receiving stolen goods over $500. His son, Kevin, has been charged with 30 counts of larceny over $500, also felonies.
However, Cumberland Police Chief John Desmarais is asking prosecutors at the Attorney General’s Office to upgrade Robert Legacy’s charges.
“We have a completed package that we will submit to the AG’s Office,” Desmarais said. “We are requesting that the charges be upgraded to embezzlement. The embezzlement charges carry a heavier sentence, up to 20 years in prison.”
According to Michael Healey, spokesperson for the Attorney General’s Office, the facts of the case will determine if the charges are upgraded.
“Our first job is to determine if the charges brought at the district level are the right charges,” Healey said. “It will be based on what the evidence and the facts of the case say.”
Healey said he expects to receive the information package from the Cumberland Police Department on Friday. The package is said to contain information about the case, as well as witness statements.
According to the police chief, the completed package being sent to the AG’s Office contains the names of those who have come forward, including school employees that admitting purchasing computers from Legacy.
“That is up the attorney general’s office,” Desmarais said about releasing those names. “They (the victims) will be named as witnesses.”
According to Healey, an exemption in the Access to Public Records Acts prevents the release of witnesses’ names if they are part of an ongoing criminal investigation.
“I doubt that we will release the names, because they are witnesses and part of an ongoing investigation,” he said.
Initially, 18 computers were recovered from witnesses. In the weeks following Legacys’ arrests, there have been reports of several more people coming forward.
According to the police chief, Legacy charged various amounts for the computers, from $400 to $600. Prior to his arrest, Legacy received an annual salary of $86,520 from the school department.
The computers, which included laptops and desktop computers, were reportedly valued between $800 and $1,000 each.
The school employees, who purchased stolen computers placed in boxes, were not aware that the items belonged to the school department, according to the police chief. The victims were told by Legacy that the merchandise was overstock from a computer store.
The recovered merchandise is currently being stored in the evidence room at the Cumberland Police Department. They will be returned to the school department after they serve as evidence in the case.
Both father and son, who are free on bail, are scheduled to appear in court on June 23.