[MSN] The former president of the Independence Seaport Museum pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday to fraud and tax evasion.

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Ex-museum chief: I'm guilty
By MICHAEL HINKELMAN
hinkelm at phillynews.com 215-854-2656

ALEJANDRO A. ALVAREZ/Daily News
John S. Carter (right), former head of the Independence Seaport Musuem,
leaves federal court with his attorney, Mark Cedrone.
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'Didn't touch' ticket writer, Susanna Foo insists

The former president of the Independence Seaport Museum pleaded guilty in
federal court yesterday to fraud and tax evasion.
John S. Carter, 57, who headed the maritime museum at Penn's Landing for 17
years until he was canned in March 2006, admitted he had stolen from the
museum to finance a flashy lifestyle.

U.S. District Judge R. Barclay Surrick set sentencing for Sept. 4.

Prosecutors said Carter faces a prison sentence of at least five years, but
a key issue at sentencing will be the actual loss to the museum.

The feds contend that Carter stole $1.5 million and didn't pay income taxes
on it.

Defense attorney Mark Cedrone said Carter "was not prepared to admit to
every fact" the government alleged in arriving at its $1.5 million figure.

Carter could also be fined as much as $600,000. Much of what Carter bought
with museum money has been recovered by the feds and will be auctioned,
prosecutors said, but they want Carter to make full restitution to the
museum.

Carter, who declined to speak with reporters, was released on $100,000
personal-recognizance bond.

He was paid $275,000 to $356,000 per year from 2001 to 2005 and lived
rent-free in a Society Hill townhouse from 1998 to 2006.

But apparently that wasn't enough to support the high-flying lifestyle
Carter craved.

The feds said Carter splurged on stereo equipment, fancy clothes and
overseas trips and a $210,000 carriage house he had built next to his Cape
Cod home.

He then submitted bogus invoices to get the museum to pay for it all.

Carter also used three museum boats for his personal benefit and even had
one of them refurbished at museum expense for more than $400,000. The feds
said he sold it for $190,000 and pocketed the cash.

Carter's name surfaced in the federal probe of state Sen. Vince Fumo, who
was indicted on fraud, conspiracy, obstruction and tax charges in February.
Fumo has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Fumo, a former museum board member, allegedly bilked the museum out of
$100,000 for free use of museum yachts during summer vacations to Martha's
Vineyard from 1996 to 2003.

The feds alleged in the Fumo indictment that Carter visited in August 1998
and provided goodies for Fumo's party that Carter charged to the museum.

The tab included crew tips, dockage fees, meals, booze and newspapers.

Carter was not charged in the Fumo case and is not expected to be a witness
in Fumo's trial next year. *

   
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