CLAREMONT – The former Parks and Recreation director who abruptly resigned last month allegedly used a municipal credit card and the city’s Amazon account to purchase technology-related items for his personal use, according to an investigation by Claremont Police Chief Brent Wilmot.
Justin Martin, who resigned his position in mid-May, turned himself into the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Department on June 11 . He has been charged with one count of fraudulent use of a credit card, a class A misdemeanor. He was released on personal recognizance bail and is scheduled to appear in Fifth District Court in Claremont on Aug. 24 at 8:30.
In a four-page letter to Sullivan County Sheriff Jayson Alstrom dated April 22, Wilmot detailed the evidence that had been uncovered while requesting the sheriff department’s assistance with the case. The letter was acquired via a records request.
Wilmot’s letter stated the investigation began in early April when Chris Burgess, the city’s Information Technology director, raised concerns about Martin. A cursory probe immediately revealed about $250 in alleged personal purchases by Martin, and Wilmot later found another $975 in “questionable” purchases Martin allegedly made using city accounts.
Burgess told Wilmot that Martin, 36, came to him on March 30 asking for help because Martin’s personal external hard drive of wildlife photos had malfunctioned, according to the letter. Burgess said he successfully recovered the photos and put them on the city’s external hard drive, which he lent to Martin.
“Martin explained that he would only borrow the device until he purchased a new one (for himself) at which point he would transfer the media onto the new device, and would then return the city’s device to Burgess,” Wilmot wrote.
Burgess noticed that later that same day, Martin bought the same external hard drive device that he was borrowing for $90 using the city’s Amazon account, which Burgess also had access to, Wilmot wrote. He also spent $159.74 on other items including memory cards. When Burgess raised concerns about Martin using city funds for personal purchases, he confirmed the second purchase was done with the city’s credit card in early April.
Martin is alleged to have used his department’s credit card purchase form as supporting documentation for the purchase. The form includes the date, person making the purchase, the vendor, amount and purpose.
Wilmot wrote that City Manager Nance Bates told him the form is used when a receipt is not available but since the Amazon receipt is “readily available,” Wilmot was able to get a copy for the investigation. Martin put as the purpose “office supplies” and used the general ledger account number from the Parks budget in the city’s general fund, Wilmot said.
“Burgess, being the City of Claremont’s longtime IT Director, has no knowledge of the Parks and Recreation Department using SD or external hard drives,” Wilmot wrote.
Wilmot, who said the external hard drive had not been shipped to Martin as of the date of his letter, did a “cursory check of other purchases made by Martin on his city issued credit card or the city’s Amazon account over the last several months.” He wrote that they “are not immediately identifiable as legitimate uses of public funds.”
“It is important to note that this was a very cursory check of purchases that have been made by Martin and charged in the general fund,” Wilmot wrote, adding that the total amount of the transactions is $975.16.
One transaction was the purchase of cell phone related equipment for an iPhone including battery charging cables, Otterbox case, camera lens protector and screen protectors.
Wilmot said Martin does not have a city-issued cell phone which makes the “purchase of this equipment with public funds questionable.”
Wilmot said his check of Martin’s use of public funds was limited to the general fund and did not include “special revenue account for Parks and Recreation, cash accounts, or other public accounts that Martin can leverage in his position as the Director of Parks and Recreation.” In the letter, he recommended a full audit of those accounts.
Martin, a Lebanon High School graduate, was hired as the recreation department supervisor of programs in 2012 and later became assistant director of the department. He was appointed director of the recreation department in 2024.
“After a preliminary review of the facts, it has become apparent that, in the interest of public transparency, the City of Claremont Police Department should not directly investigate this matter,” Wilmot wrote, citing last year’s school district financial crisis where there has been alleged misappropriation of funds. In that instance, Wilmot declined to investigate that matter and it was handed over to the State Police. He urged an “independent review of the evidence along with any charging decisions.”
When the sheriff’s announced the arrest, it said investigators reviewed financial records.
“A search warrant was executed and property believed to be associated with the unauthorized purchases was recovered. The investigation did not reveal any involvement by other city officials in the inappropriate use of city funds,” Lt. Eric Bates of the Sheriff’s Department said in a news release.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
