Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 63-year-old Thomas F. Kiely of Amherst was sentenced this morning by Erie County Court Judge Kenneth Case to an indeterminate sentence of 2- 4 years in prison. He was sentenced today as a second felony offender.

The defendant admitted to embezzling $578,354.34 from his employer while working as a bookkeeper for Kinequip, Inc. in the Town of Amherst. He committed the crime by sending checks on behalf of the business to a phantom company. The defendant was the sole owner of the phantom company. The defendant also admitted to falsifying his tax returns.

Kiely pleaded guilty to one count of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree (Class “D” felony) and one count of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree (Class “E” felony) on September 23, 2020. As part of his guilty plea, the defendant agreed to pay full restitution to the victim. To date, he has repaid a total of $300,054.11.

DA Flynn commends Detectives Jeffrey C. Gilbert and Gregory J. Trotter of the Amherst Police Department for their work in the investigation.

The case was prosecuted by Chief Candace K. Vogel of the Special Investigations and Prosecutions (SIP) Unit.