West Springfield man sentenced to prison for embezzling $1.4 million from Chicopee employer

SPRINGFIELD – A former executive with a Chicopee metal stamping company was sentenced in federal court to prison for embezzling $1.4 million over seven years, bringing the firm to the brink of bankruptcy.

Gerald Burke, 70, of West Springfield, was sentenced Tuesday to 31 months behind bars. The sentencing comes months after pleading guilty to multiple counts of bank fraud, mail fraud and filing false tax reforms.

The former controller for International Metal Products admitted siphoning the money after buying in as a partner in 2011 and realizing he could not maintain his current lifestyle under a new pay structure, according to court filings in the case.

In control of the purse strings, Burke covertly paid himself an average of $200,000 annually while owner Michael Dupuis and dozens of other employees struggled to support their families and make ends meet. Much of the money went to paying off tens of thousands of dollars in monthly credit card debt, prosecutors said.

Dupuis briefly addressed U.S. District Judge Mark G. Mastroianni at the sentencing hearing.

Three months before we caught (Burke) stealing from the company, Dupuis said, he requested that when he retired he continue to work for the company and keep the books from his retirement home in Florida. I believe he would have continued stealing from the company, giving everyone involved the maximum sentence of bankruptcy. I request that he gets as maximum as he can.

The sentencing was fairly unusual, as it took place months after Burke was poised to resolve the case under a plea deal that set a sentencing range of 18 months to two years in prison. Mastroianni nixed the deal, arguing that range was too low for what Burke had done. He sent the parties back to the drawing board.

I found that anything in that range would have been insufficient, Mastroianni recapped for the attorneys. It just wasnt enough.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Morgan and defense lawyer Joseph Harty returned with a deal that upped the sentencing target to between two years and 37 months.

While Burke declined to speak in court, Harty said his client immediately confessed to the theft when confronted by Dupuis and others in 2018. He also rushed to a plea and signed a civil settlement in which he agreed to pay the money back by selling his home and turning over the proceeds.

Mr. Burke has tremendous remorse on his own, Harty said. It was a situation that simply got out of control.

Mastroianni remarked that the remorse came a bit too late, adding that other employees – including Dupuis – lost out on an incredible amount of income while Burke maintained his own lifestyle. The judge said Dupuis son wrote the court a letter, recalling very lean years while he was growing up despite his father working many long hours.

He told me he remembered growing up in that house, and struggling, Mastroianni said. And you know why now. You found out why. It just affected so many people.

Burke will report to prison on Dec. 9 to begin serving his sentence.