© Anne Hayes/syracuse.com/TNS District Attorney William Fitzpatrick (left) and Senior Assistant District Attorney Peter Hakes discuss details of their investigation into Karen Eames after she pled guilty on Tuesday, April 11, 2023. Anne Hayes | [email protected]
Syracuse, N.Y. — Karen Eames, who pleaded guilty Tuesday to possessing more than $500,000 stolen from the sheriff’s office, used the money to pay for her expensive lifestyle, according to the district attorney.
Eames, 47, is the widow of the sheriff’s deputy Issac Eames, who authorities say stole $529,165 from an Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office account that he oversaw between January 2020 and July 2021. The deputy shot his wife and killed his son before killing himself last winter.
© Dennis Nett | dnett/syracuse.com/TNS Onondaga County Sheriff investigator continue their search for clues in the deaths of two people and the shooting of a third. The incident took place Monday Feb. 7, 2023 on Riverview Rd. Dennis Nett | [email protected]
In pleading guilty, the judge has promised Karen Eames that she will receive a maximum sentence of 6 months in prison and 5 years probation. The plea, however, does not require her to receive any jail time.
District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said Tuesday that the couple used the money to live the “high life” by purchasing land, building a riverside house, taking trips to Disney, gambling and more.
Fitzpatrick said he would not be surprised if Karen Eames came up with the idea to begin stealing money from the sheriff’s office. He cited the extent of her gambling, socializing and extravagant living as the reason he believed that.
© Anne Hayes/syracuse.com/TNS Karen Eames walks into court with her lawyer Michael Vavonese in Syracuse on Tuesday, April 11, 2023.
“Don’t waste anybody’s time trying to suggest that Karen Eames is an innocent bystander,” Fitzpatrick said.
The DA pointed to a text Karen Eames sent her husband after cashing a $7,000 check of stolen money. She sent him a photo of hundred-dollar bills fanned out on a table. She also wrote checks to herself from the stolen money, he said.
On average, Issac Eames was withdrawing $40,000 from the sheriff’s account at a time, Fitzpatrick said. The largest withdrawal was $58,998.10, according to financial data provided by the DA’s office.
The account was particularly vulnerable to theft because it had frequent deposits and withdrawals, Fitzpatrick said.
Thirteen times the couple successfully withdrew money and transferred it to their joint account. Only two withdrawals were flagged for potential fraudulent behavior by J.P Morgan Chase, Fitzpatrick said.
The couple used stolen money to buy land along the Oneida River in Clay and to build a new home, Fitzpatrick said. They purchased the land for just over $40,000. They wrote 39 checks to various vendors for the construction totaling $181,322.57 and had 112 debit transactions related to the construction totaling $97,836.79.
The 2,072-square-foot house at 4410 Riverview Road was recently sold for $565,000. That is more than Karen Eames is required to pay the county in restitution before her sentencing, according to her plea agreement. She is required to pay back the full amount stolen totaling just over $529,000.
Fitzpatrick said he believes most of the money she is using to repay the county is coming from the sale of the house. He said that Karen Eames has also remarried and he does not know where she is living now.
Karen and Issac Eames also used the stolen money to gamble and go on vacations, Fitzpatrick said.
In 2020, they used the money to vacation in Toronto, Niagara Falls, Rehoboth Beach in Delaware, Ocean City in Maryland and New York City.
In 2021, they used the stolen money to go to Disney World, Orlando, Niagra Falls, Dover and Rehoboth Beach in Delaware.
The District Attorney’s office wanted Karen Eames to spend time in state prison. They had offered her a plea deal for around 3 years of prison time but the judge gave her a more favorable offer. Instead of state prison, she faces no more than 6 months in Jamesville Correctional Facility.
“This was a very calculated, well planned, well thought out, long-term scheme that she was involved in up to her neck,” Fitzpatrick said.
Karen Eames’ attorney, Michael Vavonese, maintained that his client had no part in the theft other than using the money that her husband stole. He said that she didn’t take the money and didn’t cause the money to be taken.
“Today Karen Eames accepted responsibility for her involvement in this matter,” Vavonese said after court Tuesday, “and that related to criminal possession of stolen property.”
She pleaded guilty to second-degree criminal possession of stolen property, a felony.
Fitzpatrick did say that any rumors that Karen Eames was somehow responsible for the death of her husband and son are false. He explained the exact timeline of the murder-suicide.
On Jan. 27, 2022, Issac Eames was questioned by a sheriff’s captain about discrepancies in the account — which typically contained around $600,000 — that Eames monitored, Fitzpatrick said. He became visibly upset to the point where he thought he might throw up, the DA said.
On Feb. 2, 2022, Issac Eames shredded multiple boxes worth of records, he said. For the next two days, Issac Eames used sick leave and did not report to work.
On Feb. 7, 2022, Issac Eames used his sheriff’s office-issued handgun to shoot his wife, son and family dog before shooting himself inside the family home in Clay. Karen Eames was the only survivor.
After the murder-suicide, the details of the scheme to steal money from the sheriff’s office emerged.
In the wake of the shooting, a GoFundMe fundraiser was started to help cover funeral costs for the couple’s son, Troy Eames. The account raised over $100,000 dollars. The account was not set up by Karen Eames and was found to not be fraudulent, Senior Assistant District Attorney Peter Hakes said Tuesday.
Although the account was legitimate, Hakes and Vavonese agreed that — as a part of the plea deal — Karen Eames would return the remaining $77,000 from the GoFundMe account. Some of the money was spent on expenses that align with the fundraiser’s purpose, including funeral costs for Troy, Hakes said.
The DA’s office will work over the coming months to try to return the remaining money to donors, Fitzpatrick said.
Karen Eames will remain out of custody and will be sentenced on June 12.
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Staff writer Anne Hayes covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, a story idea, a question or a comment? You can reach her at [email protected].
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