Flights, hotels, marina fees: Former Newport firefighter faces embezzlement charges

A former Newport firefighter pleaded not guilty on Thursday to charges accusing him of embezzling over $100,000 from the Newport firefighters union’s bank account.

Former Newport firefighter Marcus Cochran has been accused of embezzling $103,653.56 from the International Association of Firefighters Local 1080 since he was issued the union credit card in 2017. Cochran served as the treasurer of the union since 2015. Since his arrest in February, he has resigned from Newport Fire Department.

According to the arrest affidavit obtained by The Newport Daily News, Union President Derek Crossman discovered the alleged embezzlement in summer 2022, when the union agreed to pay for $6,000 in recruit uniforms, but were later informed in November that the invoices for these uniforms were past due. After “several” unsuccessful attempts to get access to the union’s bank information through Cochran, Crossman and Vice President Nick Parker drove to the People’s Credit Union bank to discover several “questionable” charges on the union’s December 2022 bank statement, including a gym subscription to an OrangeTheory Fitness gym in East Greenwich. After requesting and reviewing all of the bank statements from December 2022, the two were able to place a freeze on all assets, accounts and cards.

The union leaders later obtained all bank statements from 2017 through 2022, from the card issued to Cochran, which showed several unauthorized purchases, including $21,486.47 in flights, $26,048.05 in hotels, $10,682.59 in retail purchases, $10,757.59 in credit card payments, $7,645.19 in ATM withdrawals, $6,214.78 in marina fees, $4,612.80 in meals, $4,459.34 in telephone expenses, 3,528.50 in travel expenses (such as trains and parking), $3.144.48 in gas, $2,156.46 in rideshares, $2,0423.90 in entertainment (specifically at local bars and liquor stores) and $873.41 in car rentals. Several of these charges were made in Arlington and Alexandria, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.

These unauthorized purchases were identified and categorized by Crossman, Parker and Nick Insana on a digital spreadsheet. According to them, Cochran allegedly spent $81,000.19 in suspicious charges between 2020 and 2022 and only $3,183 in charges that were likely legitimate.

The affidavit further claims that Crossman received a letter from Cochran’s attorney, Michael Chittick, which said Cochran is “taking this matter very seriously and intends to accept full accountability and responsibility.” The letter further stated that Cochran requested the opportunity to fully reimburse Local 1080 for all the amounts “borrowed” from the account without authorization.

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Cochran turned himself into the State Police Wickford Barracks on Feb. 9, 2023, where he was arrested and charged with one count of Embezzlement and Fraudulent Conversion greater than $100 and Fraudulent use of Credit Card greater than $100 in 6 Month Period. He was released on a $10,000 surety bond after paying $1,000.

After pleading not guilty to these charges at the 2nd District Court in Newport on Thursday, Cochran’s case has been moved up to the Newport Superior Court. Cochran’s first pre-trial conference is scheduled for Jan. 5, 2024.

This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Former Newport firefighter Marcus Cochran faces embezzlement charges