LI Businessman Who Stole Almost $400K Sentenced After Re-Arrest: DA

MONTAUK, NY — A Long Island businessman who stole almost $400,000 was sentenced Monday after being re-arrested in Westchester — while waiting for his sentencing, District Attorney Ray Tierney said.

Mark Ripolone, 36, formerly of Montauk, was sentenced to three to nine years in prison after he

pleaded guilty in October 2023 to three counts of second-degree grand larceny and two
counts of third-degree grand larceny — and admitted that he stole nearly $400,000 over a
three-year period in a scheme to siphon monies from legitimate businesses, the DA said.

According to court documents and the defendant’s admissions during his guilty plea allocution,
between September 2018 and October 2021, Ripolone stole about $225,000 from several
customers of "123 Delivery." He obtained the bank account information and routing numbers of
the accounts under the guise of conducting legitimate business affairs, the DA said.

Ripolone then used his customers' specific account information to make ACH withdrawals from their accounts, and used the money to pay for his personal expenses, including credit card debts, a home mortgage payment, and Verizon phone bills, Tierney said.

In another fraudulent scheme, between April and May 2020, Ripolone stole $160,000 from a
payroll company with whom he had been contracted to do payroll, the DA said. He stole the money by having payroll money transferred to his personal bank account when he did not have any funds available to reimburse the payroll company, Tierney said.

On October 24, Ripolone pleaded guilty before Supreme Court Justice John Collins to
three counts of second-degree grand larceny, class C felonies, and two counts of third-degree grand larceny, class D felonies, the DA said.

Ripolone paid an initial $30,000 in restitution but failed to continue making any payments afterward, Tierney said.

In addition, Ripolone was arrested twice in Westchester in October for reportedly stealing wallets out of the lockers of patrons at a local gym, Tierney said.

On November 12, Ripolone also pleaded guilty to two counts of petty larceny in Westchester
County and was sentenced to six months in jail, the DA said.

On Monday, Justice Collins sentenced the defendant to three to nine years in prison; Justice
Collins also signed restitution judgment orders totaling $113,379 on behalf of East End
Rotisserie, Paychex, Inc. and American Express, the DA said.

Ripolone was represented by Jeremy Scileppi, who could not immediately be reached for comment.

"Theft will not be tolerated in Suffolk County," Tierney. "Instead of devoting his efforts to the honest repayment of his victims, this defendant just chose to steal more. He can now reflect on that choice in prison."