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by Joe DiFazio

August 27, 2018

BROCKTON - A Pembroke man was indicted by a grand jury Friday on charges of stealing more than $6,000 in state aid from a disabled person.

Christopher Gardner, 35, faces two counts of larceny, one from a disabled person. Gardner was an assistant manager at a residential group home in Whitman run by the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, according to the Plymouth County District Attorney’s office.

Prosecutors said that Gardner was using one of his client’s electronic benefits cards, which carries money from state assistance programs on it, to buy things without the client’s permission.

Between January 2015 and October 2017 Gardner used the client’s card to buy $6,382 worth of groceries for himself, according to prosecutors. The district attorney’s office also said that Gardner used his own grocery reward points in conjunction with the stolen benefits.

The investigation was carried out by the state auditor’s office.

The district attorney’s office said Gardner would be summonsed for an arraignment date.