Middlesex County grand jury indicted Jodie Nealley and another former Office of Student Activities (OSA) administrator on Tuesday for allegedly embezzling close to $1 million from the university.
Neally served as the office's director from 1996 until 2007, when she was fired after the university accused her of embezzling approximately $300,000. The indictment accuses her of stealing $372,576.
Ray Rodriguez, the former OSA (now known as the Office for Campus Life) budget and fiscal coordinator, was charged with pilfering $604,873. He had not been publicly accused of embezzlement until today.
Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone said in a statement that Nealley used a bank card tied to the OSA funds to make purchases at locations ranging from Whole Foods to the Foxwoods Resort and Casino, and that Rodriguez used his share to pay for trips to destinations such as Paris and Montreal, and to buy concert tickets. Rodriguez also wrote himself a check for $100,000 and bought hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of "luxury items" at locations such as Gucci and Bloomingdale's, according to the statement.