Attorney Pleads Guilty to Stealing $1.4 Million from Charity Founded to Help Veteran and Military Families

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Brian C. Turner, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced that KEVIN E. CREED, 67, of Litchfield waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty today in New Haven federal court to wire fraud related to a scheme in which he stole approximately $1.4 million from a charity he organized.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Creed is an attorney who operates Creed Law Firm in Bristol.  In 2010, Creed established a charity called the Friends of Fisher House Connecticut, which is a chapter of the national Fisher House Foundation, an organization that builds comfort homes on the grounds of military and Veteran Affairs medical centers where military veterans and their families can stay for no cost while undergoing treatment at Veteran Affairs hospitals.  The stated purported purpose of Friends of Fisher House Connecticut was to raise funds to support the building and maintenance of a Fisher House in West Haven.

Creed solicited donations for the Friends of Fisher House from corporations and individuals.  He solicited funds at fairs, carnivals and supermarkets, and also held fundraising events, including the Bristol half-marathon and a 10-kilometer foot race, based on the representation that the money raised would support the construction and operation of the West Haven Fisher House.  While Friends of Fisher House Connecticut made a $1 million donation in 2015 to assist with the financing of the construction of the Fisher House West Haven, Creed used his position to take approximately $1.4 million that had been raised for the organization and use it for both personal and law firm expenses.

Creed is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall on November 20, 2019, at which time he faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.

Creed is released on a $100,000 bond pending sentencing.

This matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael S. McGarry.

U.S. Attorney Durham thanked the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney for its assistance in this matter.