By Nicholas Brown
Staff Writer

Former Allenstown Police Chief James McGonigle is accused of pilfering thousands of dollars from the Allenstown Police Department, the local police association and a police training academy.

McGonigle, 58, was arrested on Thursday, June 8, after a three-month investigation by the state Attorney General’s Office.

In an affidavit supporting the arrest, investigators contend McGonigle routinely stole police department money, and repeatedly wrote checks to his name, or to cash, to effectively steal from the Allenstown Police Association and the New Hampshire Police Cadet Training Academy.

The alleged thefts date back to 2000, and stolen amounts range from $1,445 to $5 in parking ticket money, according to the affidavit. In all, McGonigle is accused of stealing almost $8,000.

Interviews outlined in the affidavit suggest McGonigle admitted to recently suffering from depression and feared the prospect of going to jail.

In a Feb. 28 interview, current Allenstown Police Chief Shaun Mulholland told investigators he was in McGonigle’s office when McGonigle “broke down,” apologized for the “situation,” and said he “really screwed up big,” according to the affidavit.

That same day, Allenstown selectmen placed McGonigle on paid leave, apparently after a taped interview involving McGonigle, Mulholland and Selectman Peter Viar.

During that interview, the affidavit states, McGonigle requested the leave, inquired if he would be arrested, and said he’d been diagnosed with depression a year earlier.

“He stated that he has done things he does not remember doing,” the record reads. McGonigle further stated, “I’ve let so many people down. I can’t go to jail.”

Court records also show that Donna Barnett, the police department’s executive secretary, approached Mulholland after noting some “accounting irregularities,” in the form of $185 in missing deposits.

Mulholland told investigators he questioned McGonigle about the missing money, and McGonigle eventually replied, “You think I took the money. I wouldn’t be that stupid to take petty cash.”

Barnett said she was called into McGonigle’s office three days later, when he told her, “I am sorry for the predicament you were put in. If I took the money, I don’t remember doing so.”

McGonigle told Barnett his doctor said he could have taken the money, according to Barnett’s statement.

Barnett told investigators McGonigle’s eyes watered and hands shook before he told her, “I’m such a disappointment. I’ve disappointed my wife, my boys, my staff.”

Prosecutors also contend McGonigle removed cash from multiple police evidence bags.

Investigators also contacted the Washington, N.H., Police Chief Steven Marshall, who noted what he saw as “suspect” checks drawn from a New Hampshire Police Cadet Training Academy checking account, according to records.

Marshall told investigators McGonigle was the treasurer and sole signatory of the group’s account, and said more than $1,000 seemed to be missing after checks allegedly signed by McGonigle were made out to “Cash.”

According to the affidavit, a review of the Allenstown Police Association’s fund by Mulholland showed that McGonigle wrote eight checks ­ totaling more than $4,700 ­ between February of 2000 and June of 2002.

Seven of the checks were written to “Cash” and the other was written in McGonigle’s name, records show.

The affidavit states that the association’s treasurer pays bills after a vote of members, and that McGonigle never held that post.

McGonigle is charged with three Class A felonies ­ two counts of theft by misapplication and one theft by unauthorized taking ­ and is out on $30,000 bail.

Prosecutor John Gasaway, from the Attorney General’s office, said each of the felonies carries a maximum sentence of seven-and-a-half to 15 years in prison and a maximum fine of $4,000.

In a June 8 press release, Attorney General Kelly Ayotte wrote, “Law enforcement officers are given a special trust, and abuses of that trust will be aggressively prosecuted.”

Selectmen accepted McGonigle’s resignation in April, on the same day McGonigle officially resigned as a Concord city councilor. In his resignation letter to that council, McGonigle cited health reasons.

McGonigle led Allenstown police for more than 10 years, after 20 years with the Concord Police Department. He’s scheduled for a probable cause hearing in Concord District Court on July 5.