MONTAUK BUSINESSMAN SENTENCED TO 3 TO 9 YEARS IN PRISON AFTER RE-ARREST

(SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y.) – Suffolk District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that Mark Ripolone, 36, formerly of Montauk, was sentenced to 3 to 9 years in prison after he pleaded guilty in October 2023 to three counts of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree and two counts of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree and admitting that he stole nearly $400,000 over a three-year period in a scheme to siphon monies from legitimate businesses.    

“Theft will not be tolerated in Suffolk County,” said District Attorney Tierney. “Instead of devoting his efforts to the honest repayment of his victims, this defendant just chose to steal more. He can now reflect on that choice in prison.”        

According to court documents and the defendant’s admissions during his guilty plea allocution, between September 2018 and October 2021, Ripolone stole approximately $225,000 from several customers of “123 Delivery” after obtaining the bank account information and routing numbers of their accounts under the guise of conducting legitimate business affairs.  Ripolone then used his customers’ specific account information to make ACH withdrawals from their accounts that paid for his personal expenses, including credit card debts, a home mortgage payment, and Verizon phone bills.

In another fraudulent scheme, between April and May 2020, Ripolone stole $160,000 from a payroll company with whom he had been contracted to do payroll. He stole this money by having payroll money transferred to his personal bank account when he did not have any funds available to reimburse the payroll company.

On October 24, 2023, Ripolone pleaded guilty before Supreme Court Justice John B. Collins to three counts of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree (class C felonies) and two counts of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree (class D felonies). Ripolone paid an initial $30,000 in restitution but failed to continue making any payments afterwards. In addition, Ripolone was arrested twice in Westchester in October 2024 for allegedly stealing wallets out of the lockers of patrons at a local gym. 

On November 12, 2024, Ripolone pleaded guilty to two counts of Petit Larceny in Westchester County and was sentenced to 6 months in jail. 

On December 2, 2024, Justice Collins sentenced the defendant to 3 to 9 years in prison. Justice Collins also signed Restitution Judgement Orders totaling $113,379 on behalf of East End Rotisserie, Paychex, Inc. and American Express. Ripolone was represented by Jeremy Scileppi, Esq.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Donna M. Planty of the Financial Crimes Bureau, and the investigation was conducted by Detective Ryan Hogan from the East Hampton Town Police Department, Lt. Robert Drake from the Sag Harbor Village Police Department, and Investigator Michael Ferris from the New York State Police. 

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Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. No one is above the law.

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