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Wife of Deep River First Selectman Richard Smith Arrested

By Charles Stannard

DEEP RIVER— Laura Smith, the wife of First Selectman Richard Smith, was arrested Wednesday on a charge of first degree larceny by embezzlement related to an alleged theft of money from bank accounts at the local Liberty Bank branch on Main Street.

Smith, 46, surrendered at the Troop H barracks on Hartford after being advised a warrant had been issued for her arrest. She was released on a $20,000 non-surety bond for a Nov. 24 appearance at Middlesex Superior Court in Middletown. The arrest came one day after her husband was re-elected for a record 11th term in the town’s top job. Richard Smith was uncontested in the Tuesday vote.

Detectives with the state police Central District Major Crime Squad initiated an investigation of Laura Smith last February after being advised by bank officials that an internal audit had shown that “a large amount of money had been taken from various bank accounts of a particular individual.” Laura Smith had been an employee of the bank.

Richard Smith, a Democrat who also serves as one of the town’s three part-time police officers, could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Posted by admin on Thursday, November 5, 2009 at 4:30 pm 
Filed under Deep River · Tagged with , , ,

  • edfback
    Dick Smith is a great guy and some people are too quick to want to remove a person that has done so much for this town. Dick is always level headed and willing to listen. I have know him for nine years and he has always been a gentleman, whether we agree or disagree. One person is NEVER responsible for another person. I am not saying she did or did not do anything but why tie them together. Think about your own life (disturbed)
  • JAMEJO
    What an incredibly inane comment, "Disturbed in Deep River" (an annonymous name, of course). Not knowing the facts any more than you obviously do, I still would assume that Mr. Smith is in no way culpable in this . . . and I am enough of a humanitarian to assume the best until I find out otherwise. Guilt by association is a very common fallacy, easily subscribed to by people of limited desire to know the truth if there's any danger of arriving at a different conclusion.

    Jonathan James
  • MarcPisciotti
    Well Disturbed in Deep River, you should be more concerned with your inability to properly spell. You and all of Deep River are lucky to have a stand-up guy like Dick Smith. I have know Dick for over 10 years and he always been someone who does the right thing. If you are going to hold him responsible or accountable for anything, make it for something HE HAS DONE! Him being a town officer does not control what or when things happened. The only thing sleazy is the way you assume and rush to judge someone whose always put the towns best interest first and for the actions of someone else.
  • Disturbed in Deep River
    [COMMENT DELETED]
  • lesleyk
    Why was Chuck Della Rocco arrested?
  • LocalOnlineNews
    Charlie Stannard is working on that story today. He will post a story later this afternoon once he's had a chance to speak with police.
  • Chester Local
    Second-degree forgery and third-degree larceny related to the sale of a vehicle.
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