Ryan Nicol
Matthew Damsky, an ex-aide to former Sen. Maria Sachs, is being sentenced after pleading guilty to federal felony identity theft charges.
Those charges stem from Damsky’s time working under Sachs, where court documents show he made tens of thousands of dollars worth of unauthorized charges to Sachs’ credit card.
Court records from the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Florida show Damsky entered his guilty plea in October. Late last week, Damsky was sentenced to nine months of house detention with electronic monitoring and two years of federal probation.
Sachs served in the Florida House from 2006 to 2010 before jumping to the Senate. She ran for the old Senate District 30 seat vacated by then-state Sen. Ted Deutch after Deutch won a special election for a seat in the U.S. House.
After the 2012 redistricting, Sachs won a contest against Ellyn Setnor Bogdanoff in Senate District 34, to represent Palm Beach County. Sachs earned reelection in a 2014 rematch.
Damsky worked for Sachs from 2013 to 2016. According to the plea agreement, Damsky used Sachs’ American Express card to purchase more than $1,000 worth of prepaid debit cards without telling Sachs.
“American Express sent statements for the Sachs’s Platinum card,” the plea agreement details.
“The defendant gained access to at least six of these statements and digitally altered them to reduce the balance that appeared to be due. The defendant gave these altered statements to Sachs, representing that they were authentic statements.”
Damsky also opened two American Express accounts in Sachs’ name, according to the District Court. He charged more than $30,000 to those accounts without informing Sachs.
After discovering the charges, Sachs had Damsky agree to a notarized affidavit where he admitted the charges were made without Sachs’ consent.
Along with house arrest and probation, Damsky is being ordered to pay more than $53,000 in restitution for those credit card charges, as well as legal fees arising from the case. He’ll also be forced to undergo substance abuse treatment.
Sachs is now competing for the District 5 seat on the Palm Beach County Commission.
