Westfield Man Sentenced For Embezzling $1.5M From National Law Firm, Tax Evasion

WESTFIELD, NJ — A Westfield man and former Chief Financial Officer of McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter, LLP (the “McElroy Law Firm”), a national law firm based in New Jersey, was sentenced for embezzling more than $1.5 million from the firm and tax evasion, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced on Friday.

John Dunlea, 61, of Westfield, was sentenced on July 26 to five years in state prison by Superior Court Judge Stephen J. Taylor at the Morris County Courthouse.

Dunlea was also ordered to pay more than $1.5 million to McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter, LLP, the firm where he was previously employed, and to pay more than $20,000 to the State as restitution.

Dunlea had pleaded guilty on May 8, to an accusation charging him with two counts of theft by deception (second-degree) and five counts of failure to pay taxes (third-degree).

Dunlea admitted to misappropriating $1,538,221 from the law firm by paying himself unauthorized excess compensation.

Between January 2017 and December 2022, he paid himself $1.1 million and misled the firm into paying his personal credit card charges for international and domestic flights, hotels, and restaurant outings for himself and his family, totaling around $355,256.

Dunlea also admitted to evading the payment of income tax totaling $22,568 to the State for the tax years 2018 through 2022, for income derived from the credit card scheme.

"The defendant admitted to giving himself a staggering, unauthorized, and illegal seven-figure pay raise, and treating himself and his family, at his employer’s expense, to travel, hotels, and meals," said Attorney General Platkin. "Today’s sentence demonstrates the Division of Criminal Justice’s firm commitment to holding individuals accountable who exploit positions of trust to commit financial fraud."

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