Glovemaker gets prison for plundering retirement fund

PHOTOGRAPHER: Bethany Bump

The former owner of a Johnstown glove company was sentenced Sept. 12 to one year and one day in federal prison for stealing nearly $356,000 from his company’s retirement savings fund.

Brian J. Conroy of Gloversville, one-time owner of Joseph P. Conroy Inc., pleaded guilty in December 2009 to stealing funds from the company account from 2001 to 2007, at one point draining it of all but $10.29.

After repeated delays by his attorney, Conroy was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Thomas McAvoy in Albany. In addition to the prison term, he was ordered to serve three years supervised release afterward and must repay $178,010.

Conroy was president of the company at 110 S. Market St., which his father, Joseph Conroy, started during World War II. It remains one of the last glove manufacturers in Fulton County and once assembled gloves for L.L. Bean.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward Grogan filed a sentencing recommendation with the court earlier this year asking for a prison term of 24 months for Conroy. Grogan also offered an 18-month recommendation, since some of the money in the pension fund was Conroy’s.