PHARSALIA – On Wednesday State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced several charges against Pharsalia Town Supervisor Dennis O. Brown.

Brown faces criminal charges for allegedly stealing more than $123,000 in town funds. He allegedly used the funds to pay credit card bills and pad his salary an additional $20,000 a year, according DiNapoli.

Brown turned himself into the the New York State Police and was charged in Town of New Berlin Court. He has been on the board of supervisors for 35 years. He is the longest serving member of the board, and sits on the county's finance committee.

Brown, 70, of South Plymouth, was charged with 2nd degree grand larceny, scheme to defraud, defrauding the government, corrupting the government and public corruption. The Comptroller’s inquiry into Pharsalia began with an audit in 2018 which led to the criminal investigation.

Brown allegedly used the town’s credit card to spend at least $123,273 to fund his personal lifestyle, including vacations in Myrtle Beach and New York City, fees for PayPal, Amazon and iTunes, and designer handbags, liquor and cooking classes. The investigation also revealed that Brown allegedly used town funds to pay 100 percent of his home telephone, internet and electric bills.

“Since 2010, Mr. Brown allegedly cheated his neighbors out of over a hundred thousand dollars by using public funds for his pleasure and daily expenses,” DiNapoli said. “Taxpayers cannot tolerate the theft of public monies and deserve better from their public officials. I thank the State Police Special Investigations Unit in Binghamton for their diligent work and partnership on this case.”

A number of Chenango County board supervisors and members of the Pharsalia town board said they were not aware of the charges until after they were announced Wednesday.

The two town board members who spoke with The Evening Sun expressed alarm and skepticism over the charges.

Read about more details in tomorrow's edition of The Evening Sun.