Man who spent nonprofit money on carpets and fish tank goes to prison

The former chief financial officer for a nonprofit organization that provides services to people with autism is headed to state prison for stealing nearly $115,000 from the group for his personal use.

Peter Pflug received a three-year sentence Friday. He also must pay full restitution.

The 56-year-old Freehold Township man had pleaded guilty in January to theft by unlawful taking.

Pflug served with New Horizons in Autism, a Monmouth County-based nonprofit that receives most of the money for its programs through a contract with the state's Division of Developmental Disabilities.

Investigators say that between June 2015 and February 2018, Pflug used the nonprofit's accounts for approximately $114,917 in personal expenditures. They say he frequently recorded the items and services as purchases made for group homes it operated.

Some of the personal expenses he was accused of spending the money on included:

• $36,000 for purchases of vehicles and expenses for the vehicles
• $10,000 for carpeting for his own home
• $35,000 for renovations and repairs of his home
• $20,000 for landscaping of his property
• $10,000 for furniture in his dining room and bedroom and a new refrigerator.
• $2,000 for a fish tank and equipment for the tank

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