The ex-CFO of A.E. Rosen Electrical was sentenced Wednesday to serve state prison time for embezzling millions from his former employer, partly by using the company’s fuel/fleet cards to buy gift cards he then exchanged for crack cocaine, according to a press release from the Albany County District Attorney’s Office in New York.
Kevin Stevens, 62, of Cohoes, New York, stole $4.2 million via the gift card scheme as well as by issuing himself checks from the Albany-based electrical contractors’ accounts, a New York State Police Investigation found. The thefts occured over about eight years ending in January 2025.
Before being sentenced Stevens apologized to his former colleagues and family for his crimes, which he said were “all for the sole purpose of fueling my addiction. It completely changed the man I was” and told the judge he “was committed” to becoming an alcohol and substance abuse counselor after prison, according to the release.
The case marks the largest grand larceny case ever prosecuted by the DA office’s history, Albany County District Attorney Lee C. Kindlon said.
The scheme has also sparked new litigation. On Sept. 1, A.E. Rosen filed a lawsuit against the convenience store chain Cumberland Farms seeking compensatory damages and alleging it failed to maintain and enforce internal controls over its point-of-sale systems to prevent Stevens from making about $2.46 million in unauthorized purchases of prepaid credit cards at stores in the Albany area.
Instead, the suit filed in New York Supreme Court said Stevens was able to use WEX fuel cards intended to be used to buy gas for Rosen’s vehicle fleet to fraudulently buy prepaid cards at Cumberland Farms stores. At one point in 2020, WEX flagged the suspicious activity and closed the account, prompting Stevens to forge a company principal’s signature on a COMDATA application to open another account that he used from January 2021 through December 2024.
“The purchases at issue, totalling over $2.4 million in prepaid credit cards at a limited number of convenience store locations over a number of years, often multiple transactions per day at uniform amounts, presented obvious and unmistakable red flags that any reasonable retailer with adequate internal controls would have identified and investigated,” according to the complaint, which describes Stevens as an accounting and finance employee.
This week’s sentencing comes after Stevens pled guilty in June to grand larceny in the first degree and identity theft in the first degree.
He was sentenced to serve an indeterminate state prison sentence of four to 12 years and was ordered to pay full restitution to A.E. Rosen. Individuals given indeterminate sentences can seek discretionary release consideration from the Board of Parole, according to the DOCCS website.
During the sentencing, Judge Christopher Maier noted Stevens’ family network and his progress in recent months managing his addiction.
“I’m encouraged by the fact that you have already taken steps to address your behavior,” he said. “There’s a saying that I’m sure you’re familiar with, and it’s that you’re only as sick as your secrets. And if you maintain a sober support network and you’re honest with them … it’s the antidote to your problems.”
Stevens took several steps to conceal his actions. For example, he submitted the personal information of the company’s owner on financial forms to mask his own fleet card use. And he gave the company’s accounting firm false ledgers and financial reports that were then used to create annual financial statements.
When he made the exchanges for the drugs he was also often paying higher than usual prices, a DA spokesperson said.
The Department of Corrections and Community Supervision will begin processing him shortly for intake from the local county jail, a spokesperson for the DA’s office said.
Stevens’ attorney and A.E. Rosen did not respond to separate requests for comment.
