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A Killingly man who once led a Windham homeless shelter has pleaded guilty to stealing more than $775,000 from two Connecticut nonprofits, including one that provides emergency housing to families with nowhere else to go.
Ryan Fitzgibbons, 44, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud Wednesday before U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley in Bridgeport, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut. He waived his right to be indicted.
Fitzgibbons stole about $734,683 from Holy Family Home & Shelter in Windham, where he served as executive director, between November 2021 and June 2023, prosecutors said.
He used unauthorized wire transfers to move money to his personal accounts and also made personal purchases with the shelter’s debit card, withdrew money from ATMs and wrote checks to himself and “cash,” according to prosecutors.
Fitzgibbons also provided the shelter’s board with false accounting reports to conceal the thefts, prosecutors said. In September 2022, he failed to disclose that Holy Family had received a $392,000 estate donation.
The shelter fired Fitzgibbons in September 2023, according to prosecutors.
By April 2024, Fitzgibbons had been hired to run Durham Middlefield Youth & Family Services, a nonprofit that provides prevention and treatment programs for children and families.
Prosecutors said Fitzgibbons then charged about $40,769 in unauthorized purchases to the organization’s account. He falsely recorded the expenses as “marketing,” “wages” and “software,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
He was fired in August 2024.
Fitzgibbons has agreed to pay $775,452 in restitution. He remains free on a $100,000 bond pending sentencing, which is scheduled for Dec. 2.
Wire fraud carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Homeland Security Investigations and the Middlefield Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie T. Levick is prosecuting.
