Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin announced that Daniel Doyle (age 68), of West Hartford, CT, was sentenced today, eight months after being found guilty by a Washington County Superior Court jury on all 18 counts charged in the Institute for International Sport embezzlement case.
Superior Court Justice Melanie Wilk Thunberg sentenced Doyle to a total of 15 years with seven years to serve and the remainder suspended with probation. In addition, Doyle was ordered to pay $550,000 in restitution to the Hassenfeld Foundation and was ordered to undergo an evaluation for counseling.
Justice Thunberg sentenced Doyle to 15 years with seven to serve and the remainder suspended with probation on each of the seven counts of embezzlement; 10 years with five years to serve and the remainder suspended with probation on the one count of obtaining money under false pretenses; 10 years with five to serve and the remainder suspended with probation on each of the five counts of forgery; and one year suspended with probation on each of the five counts of filing a false document. All sentences were ordered to run concurrent to one another.
After the nearly three-month trial which started in September 2016, Doyle was found guilty of seven counts of embezzlement, one count of obtaining money under false pretenses, five counts of forgery, and five counts of filing a false document.
During the trial, the State proved that Doyle embezzled approximately $1.14 million from the Institute for International Sport, a non-profit agency he founded in 1986 with the mission to use sports and the arts as mediums to forge relationships on a global scale and to address societal issues. Among the many programs of the Institute, the most identifiable was the World Scholar Athlete Games held at the University of Rhode Island.
The State proved that Doyle embezzled approximately $750,000 in unauthorized salary payments and loan payments from 2005 through 2011. In addition, the State proved that Doyle embezzled nearly $150,000 by paying the monthly balance on his personal American Express card from the Institute's accounts for unauthorized purchases including cosmetic eye surgery, Starbucks, restaurant and bar bills, clothing, groceries, and other items.
Further, the State proved that Doyle embezzled approximately $100,000 when he made tuition payments from the Institute accounts to Kingswood Oxford School and Oberlin College for his daughter, as well a $22,000 payment from the Institute accounts to fulfill a $50,000 personal pledge Doyle made to Bates College.
In addition, the State proved that Doyle embezzled approximately $120,000 of Institute funds when he paid for items from the Institute account associated with his two for-profit businesses – the Hall of Fame Press and summer camps.
The State also proved that Doyle obtained a charitable gift from the Hassenfeld Foundation under false pretenses when he misled the Foundation that the monies would be used to construct a building to support the Institute. Doyle failed to inform the Foundation that the funding for the building had already been secured and squandered. The building, located on property owned by the University of Rhode Island, remains an empty shell to this day.
In addition, the State proved that Doyle forged, or directed the forgery of, the names of individuals on the Institute's Non-Profit Corporation Annual Report for 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009 and subsequently knowing filed those false documents with the State of Rhode Island.
"Today's sentence reflects the deceit Da Doyle perpetrated in his elaborate fraud that bilked honest and admirable individuals out of hundreds of thousands of dollars and destroyed the mission and purpose of the International Institute of Sport, which he founded, in order to sustain a lifestyle he felt he was entitled to," said Attorney General Peter Kilmartin. "At some point, the Institute became less about bringing young people together to celebrate sport, community, and academics, and more about Dan Doyle, which resulted in the lies, the greed, and the cover up that led to his downfall."
The investigation was led by Rhode Island State Police Detective Courtney Elliot, Investigator Gerard Ratigan, and Lieutenant Robert Creamer. Assistant Attorneys General Mark Trovato and J. Patrick Youngs and Special Assistant Attorney General Ryan Stys prosecuted the case on behalf of the Office of Attorney General Rhode Island.