No Jail Time For Man Who Stole $76,000 In Woburn Charity Scam

WOBURN, MA -- A Lowell man who collected $76,000 over a three-year period by running a charity scam pleaded guilty in Middlesex Superior Court Tuesday. Zachary Noonan, 26, of Lowell, was sentenced to three years probation and ordered to pay restitution after pleading guilty to three counts of larceny over $250 by Judge John Lu.

Noonan's scam was originally uncovered by Woburn Police in February, when a manager at the Stop & Shop in Woburn attempted to contact an organization it had made a donation to through a website and phone number provided by the defendant. The victim discovered that the phone number was disconnected and there was actually no website.

Noonan was arrested in March and arraigned again on the charges in June.

The District Attorney's office said Noonan worked for the Volunteer Firemen, a legitimate charity that solicited donations and sold advertising space to benefit non-profit organizations. When Noonan left that job, he kept contact information to solicit donations for false charities he set up that appeared to be legitimate organizations. The names Noonan allegedly used included, "The Jimmy Fund for Kids," "Volunteer Fireman," "New England Wounded Veterans," "New England Hunger Assoc." and "Northeast Amateur Athletic Union."

Members of Middlesex Sheriff's Office Warrant Apprehension Unit and Massachusetts State Police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section arrested Noonan in October without incident. The DA's office said none of the funds were used for charitable purposes.

Two years ago, police in Nashua, N.H. arrested Noonan and charged him with second-degree assault after he choked a woman and threatened to kill her. While awaiting trial on those charges, Noonan was arrested for violating terms of his release and bail, including charges of violating a protective order, stalking and domestic violence-stalking.

Patch file photo by Nashua, N.H. Police Department.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).