Two Pudding Members Indicted

Two Harvard seniors involved with the Hasty Pudding Theatricals have been charged with grand larceny after allegedly stealing thousands of dollars from the club last spring.

Over the course of more than a year, Suzanne M. Pomey ’02 and Randy J. Gomes ’02 allegedly stole from the group and deposited the funds in their personal bank accounts, according to Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) Detective Sgt. Richard Mederos, who heads HUPD’s Criminal Investigation Division.

Mederos said the “scheme,” perpetrated by both Pomey and Gomes, resulted in the theft of “several thousands of dollars.” Pudding sources said last night, however, that the amount taken could be far higher.

An indictment filed in Middlesex Superior Court on Jan. 11 and unsealed this week alleges that from March 21, 2000 through June 20, 2001, Pomey allegedly stole more than $250 from the club—the cut-off for grand larceny. The Crimson was unable to obtain Gomes’ indictment last night.

Pomey produced the Theatricals’ show last spring and Gomes assistant-directed the high-profile Man and Woman of the Year awards. Both were members of the business staff and are blockmates living in the same entryway in Winthrop House.

HUPD began investigating the thefts after members of the Pudding’s executive staff brought their suspicions to the police in mid-September.

Mederos said the Hasty Pudding executives were “100 percent” cooperative.

After completing an extensive investigation, Mederos turned over the evidence to the Middlesex district attorney, who took the evidence to the Grand Jury. The results of the completed investigation were unsealed on Tuesday when the indictments were announced in Cambridge Superior Court. Their arraignments are scheduled for Feb. 5.

Pomey refused to comment on how she would plead at her arraignment. Gomes could not be reached for comment last night.

On Tuesday night, the Pudding held an emergency meeting of its entire staff during which they were informed of the charges.

It is unclear whether Pomey and Gomes are still members of the Theatricals. Both Pomey and Theatricals members refused to comment on their membership status.

Theatricals members also declined comment on whether they will pursue civil action against Pomey or Gomes and gave a blanket “no comment.” Theatricals President Gregory C. Padgett ’02 also refused to comment. Last night, Pudding members escorted a Crimson editor from their College-owned building on Holyoke Street.

College administrators also refused to comment on the specific case, although they were kept informed of the charges by HUPD.

Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis ’68 refused to comment on Pomey and Gomes, saying he would not comment on the situation of individual students. Likewise, Winthrop House Co-Masters Paul D. Hanson and Cynthia Rosenberger refused to comment on Pomey and Gomes.

The Administrative Board usually will not begin its own disciplinary processes with regard to alleged criminal acts until criminal proceedings are completed, according to the student handbook.

However, the College can place a student on an involuntary leave of absence for alleged criminal behavior. Involuntary leaves are not officially considered to be disciplinary measures, but a student can usually avoid them by taking a voluntary leave of absence.

Nonetheless, both students registered for the spring semester as seniors on Wednesday, according to the Faculty of Arts and Science’s Office of the Registrar. Pomey refused to say whether she would stay at Harvard for the spring semester.

Pomey produced last spring’s Theatricals production, “Fangs for the Memories,” and was the business manager of their spring 2000 production, “The Jewel of Denial.”

She has also been active in public service organizations and campus social life, co-founding the women’s final club Isis this fall and was a former president of the sorority Kappa Alpha Theta.

While Isis refused to comment on the club’s practice toward a member’s alleged criminal conduct—and will “remain silent”—they credited Pomey with her central role in founding Isis. Her activities included raising funds to get the club off the ground, said Isis co-founder Anne M. Fernandez ’03.

“She essentially began the club in terms of infrastructure, recruitment and fundraising,” Fernandez said.

Fernandez confirmed that Pomey is still a member of the club, and would remain one for the spring semester.

At the Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA), where she performed community service and served on the organization’s cabinet, fellow volunteers praised Pomey for her commitment to public service and said they were not considering excluding Pomey from any of their activities.

“She’s had a long-term commitment to public service throughout her stay here,” said Paul A. McDonald, PBHA’s executive director.

“Not knowing the details of the indictment, I would still admire her as a role model,” said Timothy R. Schneider ’03, who co-directs the Cambridge Youth Enrichment Program and has worked with Pomey in the past.

Pomey, an economics concentrator, was featured in the December issue of The Crimson’s weekly magazine Fifteen Minutes (FM), as one of its 15 outstanding seniors. She told FM then that she planned on going into law.

Little information was available on Gomes last night. He worked at the Abercrombie and Fitch store in Harvard Square for more than a year and also served as a researcher-writer for Let’s Go in the summer of 2000.

Several people who worked or lived with Gomes, a government concentrator, declined to comment, saying that they did not know him well.

—Staff Writer Stephanie M. Skier can be reached at skier@fas.harvard.edu.