Grand Theft Mushroom in New Jersey…Really?

Gino Silva was sentenced today to 28 months in prison for stealing thousands of dollars worth of mushrooms from his employer while awaiting sentencing for an unrelated $1.2 million embezzlement scheme according to U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman. Not the drug mushrooms, but the actual mushrooms that you might order as a pizza topping.

Silva is a former inventory control manager for D’Artagnan, a gourmet mushroom distributor in Newark. According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court: In December 2007, Silva and Steven Perei, also a D’Artagnan employee, started a gourmet mushroom company called Mediterra which they used to secretly compete with their employer’s business. When Silva and Perei made sales on behalf of Mediterra without having the inventory necessary to deliver them, they stole mushrooms and other products from D’Artagnan and used them to fulfill the Mediterra orders.

Silva has some other issues too. Fishman says he operated the mushroom theft scheme while on pre-sentencing release after pleading guilty to an unrelated conspiracy. From 2000 through 2005, Silva was a vice president in charge of operations at Philips Accessories and Computer Peripherals, Inc. (“Philips”). During that time, Silva and others caused Philips to pay a temporary staffing agency for the services of fake employees, ultimately routing the fraudulent paychecks to bank accounts they controlled. The conspiracy lasted nearly six years and defrauded Philips of approximately $1.2 million.