Paintballers 4 Autism

WESTFIELD – A police dispatcher who was accused of operating a fake autism charity and keeping donations for himself will not face jail time or fines, and will pay $2,000 in restitution though it's unclear how much money he actually took.

Richard Greenaway, Jr., 36, was originally charged with two counts of larceny over $250 by false pretense. Those charges each were amended to larceny over $250, and Judge Jacklyn Connly continued the case without finding for one year Wednesday in Westfield District Court. That means there is no finding of guilt, but Greenaway admitted there are sufficient facts to find him guilty.

Greenaway worked as a Massachusetts State Police dispatcher in Northampton. He was placed on paid administrative leave when he was charged, according to a Telegram and Gazette story, and his job status was not clear Wednesday evening.

Interim Hampden district attorney James Orenstein said it was impossible to ascertain the exact amount Greenaway took from the fake charity, "Paintballers 4 Autism," that he operated out of his Sycamore Street home.

The original police report said that between May 2012 and November 2013 Greenaway used almost $5,000 of the charity's money for personal use, and $9,227 was transferred to another unknown bank account.

Orenstein said some of the earlier estimates came from Greenaway's claim that the money had been stolen from his PayPal account, but a final dollar amount that went to the fake charity could not be determined. He said assistant district attorney Magali Montes and the defendant agreed on the sentence.

Greenaway was ordered to pay $1,000 restitution to Autism Speaks in Princeton, New Jersey, and $1,000 to Community Resources for People with Autism, in Easthampton.

In the time he operated the charity, Greenaway gave only $25 to autism, and that was only after an internet promoter uncovered Greenaway's scam, the police report said.

The report said volunteers donated their time to the fake charity's efforts, paintballers participated in tournaments that were supposed to raise money for autism and people donated paintball equipment, which Greenaway then sold with the fake charity's logo on it.

Greenaway said he was donating the money to local and national charities, but he was the only receiver of the funds, the report said.

When an internet promoter began looking into the fake charity, Greenaway made fraudulent paperwork — including a fake police report — to show that money was stolen from his account.

According to the report, Greenaway’s organization was not registered as a charity with the IRS, though he knew of the requirements.

The report said the implied agreement with the two charities he claimed to be donating to made those charities the victims of the larcenies, as he diverted funds that were donated.

The larceny charges carried possible sentences of up to five years in prison and up to $25,000 in fines.