Two founders of a Long Island non-profit organization that purports to help kids in impoverished communities have been indicted on grand larceny charges, accused of stealing $100,000 that they had promised to high school students when they recruited them to work summer jobs at popular venues like Jones Beach, Citi Field and MCU Park.
"These defendants stole from at-risk teenagers who did hard work for many hours for little or no pay," said Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas in announcing the indictment Thursday.
According to prosecutors, the defendants, Whelton Herron and Amadii Owens, formed a non-profit called the Herron Foundation Inc., based in Lindenhurst. In the summers of 2013 and 2014, the men posted employment ads on Craigslist and recruited students from schools on Long Island, including Freeport and Brentwood high schools and Nassau County Community College.
The Herron executives even contacted officials and counselors at the schools to make presentations touting a "tremendous opportunity" for student employment, according to the indictment. They offered jobs at concession stands at local stadiums and concert venues for an hourly wage of $9 an hour.
But those concession stand jobs were part of a volunteer contract with Aramark Sports and Entertainment Services Inc., the vending giant that operates in stadiums and concert venues across the U.S.. As part of a deal set up through Aramark's non-profit program, Herron would provide "volunteers" to work at Aramark concession stands, and Herron would get some commissions from the concession stand revenue to support it charitable program, according to prosecutors.
The contracts stated that the "volunteers" would be "providing time and effort for the benefit of the group, without intention of receiving wages or benefits." The Herron executives indicated to Aramark that the students who would be staffing the stands had no expectations of being paid, according to the indictment.
Aramark "thought they were giving money to a charity who would then use it for their charitable contributions," said Singas.
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But Herron Foundation was in fact recruiting students for the jobs by telling them they would be paid $9 an hour, and those students worked hundreds of hours at Aramark concession stands in Nassau and nearby, prosecutors allege. When asked by the students when they would be paid, Herron told them they had not yet been paid by Aramark. The Herron executives also threatened the students, according to prosecutors, telling them they would be fired if they approached Aramark to tell them they were supposed to be paid.
Herron used much of the $100,000 he pocketed to create an online magazine for golf cart enthusiasts and for personal expenses like a Mercedes, and travel and rent, according to Singas.
The defendants pleaded not guilty at their arraignment Thursday. Herrons' attorney said he was confident his client will be exonerated, while Owens' attorney claimed Herrons solicited his client to work for him and he didn't know about the scheme.
Aramark said it has not worked with the Herron Foundation since 204 and is cooperating with the investigation.
