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Ex-Pratt & Whitney Engineer Pleads Guilty To Larceny

Donald Burwell admitted to the charges he embezzled $150,000 from the jet engine manufacturer by submitting false expense reports.

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- A former engineer at Pratt & Whitney has pleaded guilty to first-degree larceny following charges he embezzled from the jet engine manufacturer by submitting false expense reports.

Donald Burwell, who now lives in Texas, admitted to the theft Wednesday in Hartford Superior Court. The state says he stole about $150,000 and he paid back $121,000 before his arrest earlier this year.

Under a plea agreement, he faces 18 months in prison when he is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 29.

Authorities say Burwell, formerly of Wethersfield, charged airline tickets on his company-issued credit cards, canceled the tickets without taking the trips and submitted false expense reports.

Police say he also submitted fictitious expense reports for meals, lodging and other expenses between 2004 and 2006.

Pratt & Whitney, a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp., has said it fired Burwell in July 2007 for misconduct involving use of a company credit card and violations of Pratt & Whitney's code of ethics.

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