LAWRENCE — Eduardo Perez entered Lawrence District Court in police custody yesterday, accused of conspiring with his girlfriend, Marie Morey, to embezzle more than $2 million from the court's Probation Department.
But Perez left on personal recognizance after a judge rejected a request by the prosecutor to set his bail at about the same amount as was allegedly stolen.
Perez, 45, of 18 Greenfield St., Lawrence, faces charges of larceny over $250 and conspiracy in connection with Morey's alleged scheme to embezzle $2,037,725 from the Lawrence District Court Probation Department, where she worked as a clerk for 19 years.
Morey, 39, also of 18 Greenfield St., is being held on $400,000 bail at MCI-Framingham, the state's prison for women.
Initially arrested in September 2009, Morey was indicted by an Essex County grand jury later that year after an internal investigation was conducted by the Office of the Trial Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
She is accused of manipulating records and bank deposits over three and a half years beginning in January 2006.
Yesterday, Perez repeatedly shook his head in disagreement as Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Kunsch read from a state police report implicating him in Morey's plot.
Kunsch asked Judge Thomas Brennan to set Perez's bail at $2 million and order him to surrender his passport to state police.
Kunsch said an ongoing investigation into the embezzlement included a review of financial records of four different joint credit card accounts between Morey and Perez's Erving Street automotive business — Perez Tire & Service.
Kunsch said one of the accounts was used to buy 96 airline tickets for Morey, Perez and others to destinations across the United States, and in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.
Perez was born in the Dominican Republic. While arguing for bail, Kunsch said Perez has made several trips there in recent years and suggested he is "a flight risk."
Linda Harvey, Perez's court-appointed attorney, disagreed, saying that state police were already in possession of his passport.
Harvey also questioned the evidence presented against Perez.
"There's no evidence to believe that Mr. Perez put his name on those (credit cards) voluntarily," Harvey said. "Ms. Morey very well could have done so."
Harvey said Perez has been a U.S. citizen for 21 years and has four children.
"Mr. Perez is a good man, a businessman, a good father," Harvey said. "He's remained in Lawrence. He's running his business."
After hearing both sides, Brennan released Perez on personal recognizance rather than hold him on bail.
"I don't think there are enough details. I'm not going to do it," Brennan said of the request that he hold Perez.
Morey was initially arrested in September 2009 and charged with larceny over $250 for allegedly stealing $6,350 from the Probation Department over two days earlier that year. But as the investigation into the theft developed, Morey was arrested again Dec. 2 and charged with stealing the $2,037,725 from the probation department.
Perez faces up to five years in state prison if convicted on the larceny charge, and could receive two years in the county jail on the charge of conspiracy.
Brennan entered a not guilty plea on Perez's behalf. Perez is scheduled to appear in court again Sept. 2 for a pretrial hearing.
Morey, charged with larceny over $250 and filing a false report by a public employee, is scheduled to return to court on Aug. 10.
Morey also was considered "a flight risk" because of her ties to the Dominican Republic, Kunsch said.
She faces up to five years in state prison if convicted on the larceny charge, and could receive a year in the county jail on the charge of filing a false report.
