Former Clemson city finance director pleads guilty to embezzlement, avoids prison time
The former finance director for the city of Clemson will not serve prison time for embezzling tens of thousands of dollars from the city, leaving some members of the City Council frustrated.
In November 2017, Tom Alexander Sparacino, who had worked for the city for over 30 years, was charged with embezzlement of public funds for using a city credit card on personal purchases.
On Nov. 14, 2018, Sparacino pleaded guilty to the charge. He paid the city $69,106.45 before entering his plea as part of a negotiated sentence, his attorney, Joy Davis, said. Joel Seavey, the city's new director of finance, confirmed that the city received the payment.
The roughly $69,000 accounted for the portion of the money that the prosecutor could definitively say was for personal purposes, city administrator Rick Cotton said. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division originally cited $124,748.03 in potentially personal expenses but not all of that could be verified as personal, Cotton said.
Read more: https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/2018/12/13/clemson-city-finance-director-tom-sparacino-embezzlement/2281975002/