Sentencing Delayed Again for Former Jersey City Official Sudan Thomas Who Pleaded Guilty to Embezzlement

Sentencing has again been delayed for Sudhan Thomas, the former president of the Jersey City Board of Education (JCBOED) in New Jersey. Thomas pled guilty to embezzlement and wire fraud in June last year, and was scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 1, and then Dec. 5, followed by March 5, the Hudson County View reported. He is now scheduled to be sentenced on May 21, the publication adding, citing federal court filings. No reason was cited for the delay. The 47-year-old Indian American was also the former acting executive director of the now defunct Jersey City Employment and Training Program (JCETP).

Thomas pleaded guilty on June 1, 2023, before U.S. District Judge William J. Martini to two counts of an indictment charging him with embezzling funds from JCETP, and wire fraud for embezzling money from his 2016 JCBOED campaign, the Department of Justice announced at the time. 

He served as JCETP’s acting executive director from January 2019 until his resignation in  July 2019. The nonprofit organization operated to assist Jersey City residents to prepare for and enter the workforce. It received substantial amounts of funding from federal grants from the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to the DOJ. 

A few years before the joined JCETP, Thomas was elected to a seat on the JCBOED in 2016, ultimately serving as vice president and then president.

Two months after he joined JCETP, Thomas began embezzling more than $45,000 from the nonprofit. “He caused checks to be drawn from JCETP accounts that were made payable to others, but ultimately received by him, and used to pay his debts and expenses,” the DOJ said. He also made some of those checks payable to Next Glocal, an entity for which he was a director, which were deposited into a bank account for his personal use, the DOJ added. 

See Also

Shorter Sentence Possible for Indian American Harendra Singh, the Star Witness in Bribery Case in Long Island

During his campaign for the JCBOED, from September 2016 to November 2016, he collected campaign contributions and caused them to be deposited into a bank account opened for the campaign that he controlled. “Under the guise of collecting repayments for loans to the campaign or reimbursement for other purported campaign-related expenses, he embezzled more than $8,000 from his 2016 campaign for his own personal use,” the DOJ said. 

According to the department, the embezzlement charge is punishable by a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison. The wire fraud charge is punishable by a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison. Both charges carry a maximum fine of up to $250,000.