Former Massachusetts official pleads guilty to embezzling city funds to buy steak tips, self-portrait

A former Quincy, Massachusetts city official has pleaded guilty in federal court to embezzling tens of thousands of dollars. Federal prosecutors say Thomas Clasby, 61, used taxpayer money on personal items including steak tips, a car and a recording session in a music studio.

Clasby, from Fitchburg, was the Director of the Quincy Department of Elder Services for 25 years. On Monday, he pleaded guilty to embezzlement, mail and wire fraud and interstate transportation of stolen property.

Clasby was indicted by a federal grand jury in January 2025.

Prosecutors said beginning in 2019, Clasby used the city's purchasing process to pay personal expenses including $2,236 for 153 pounds of bourbon steak tips, $8,950 for a music studio to produce recordings of him singing songs, $4,800 for a Toyota Prius, and $1,658 for a framed self-portrait.

Clasby is also accused of arranging for the city to pay over $38,000 to a friend's New York consulting company but never used their services. Prosecutors said Clasby's friend cashed checks from the city, then met Clasby at locations in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York to hand off the money.

Clasby is scheduled to be sentenced on June 17. The charges of embezzlement and interstate transportation of stolen property each carry a sentence of up to 10 years in prison and a fine up to $250,000. The charges of mail and wire fraud provide for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, and a fine of up to $250,000.