A former New Rochelle teacher accused of threatening school district officials after he was fired has been indicted on more serious charges.
Samuel McVey is scheduled to be arraigned in Westchester County Court on Monday, June 22, on charges including first-degree attempted grand larceny, a felony that could land him in prison for up to 15 years.
That top felony charge accuses McVey of trying to steal more than $1 million, although details of how he tried to do that were not immediately available in court records.
Other felonies McVey faces are second- and third-degree attempted grand larceny and first-degree criminal contempt.
McVey was placed on administrative leave in January, three months after his hiring as a Spanish teacher at Isaac Young Middle School, and fired in February.
He was initially charged with aggravated harassment, accused of sending an email on the day he was terminated saying he was “coming to the building with guns” and had a “bullet for Corey’s head,” referring to schools Superintendent Corey Reynolds.
McVey was taken into custody on additional charges March 17 and an arrest warrant was issued the following week when he failed to show up in court. He went to Colombia during that time and he was arrested in April in Louisiana after returning to the United States. When he appeared in New Rochelle City Court last month, a psychiatric examination was ordered.
In March and April, McVey took to YouTube in a series of rambling videos attacking the school system and New Rochelle police, sharing his history in education and coaching and detailing a company he runs that offers sports programs in Latin America.
One of the criminal contempt felonies he faces accuses McVey of emailing Reynolds on April 24 in violation of an order of protection. He allegedly demanded $50,000 for defamation of character and told Reynolds he was in touch with dangerous narcoterrorists in Colombia and that the superintendent should be in fear for himself and his family.
McVey has suggested that the reason he was fired was because he had been soliciting support for his business, the McVey International Group. But in a supporting deposition after she claimed to have been threatened by McVey, the district’s assistant superintendent for human resources told investigators that he had made colleagues uncomfortable with “bizarre” and “alarming” behavior.
McVey denied making threats, in one video suggesting the person behind the threats could have been a drug dealer in New Jersey. McVey claimed he had dated the man’s wife not knowing she was married.
He is also charged with multiple misdemeanors including second-degree criminal contempt, second-degree aggravated harassment, fourth-degree attempted grand larceny and making a threat of mass harm.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Fired New Rochelle teacher indicted on more charges
Reporting by Jonathan Bandler, Rockland/Westchester Journal News / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Jonathan Bandler, Rockland/Westchester Journal News | USA TODAY Network
