Former Police Dispatcher Ordered to Serve 18 Months Home Confinement, Repay $155,520

WAKEFIELD – A former North Kingstown Police Department dispatcher and union treasurer has been ordered to serve 18 months at the ACI and repay $155,520 after pleading guilty on Feb. 16 in Washington County Superior Court to embezzling charges.

Douglas H. Rogers, 41, of 404 Hillsdale Road, West Kingston, pleaded guilty to a Rhode Island State Police felony charge of embezzling more than $100. According to North Kingstown and state police, Rogers transferred $155,520 from a union account to a personal banking account from March 2004 to April 2009.

Superior Court Associate Justice Edwin Gale ordered Rogers to serve 18 months home confinement starting March 8, if he was eligible for the program. Following his home confinement, Rogers would be ordered to complete 18 years probation and an 18-year suspended sentence.

Gale ordered Rogers to pay restitution for all of the missing funds, plus $450 in assessments. Rogers was also ordered to complete mental health counseling.

According to North Kingstown and state police reports, officials first became aware of the embezzling in November 2009 after receiving a complaint of missing funds from the union’s bank account.

An audit revealed transactions from the union account to Rogers’ personal banking account. The money went toward Rogers’ mortgage payments, his credit card bills and purchases at several area businesses.

All information is compiled from records at Fourth Division District Court and Washington County Superior Court.