Former Plymouth Food Services Director Sentenced to Federal Prison for Multi-Year School Theft Scheme
BOSTON — The long-running scheme of a former South Shore public school official came to a head in federal court, where the longtime food services director was sentenced to six months in federal prison for looting taxpayer-funded equipment and food to supply his private Cape Cod beach business.
Patrick Van Cott, 64, of Sandwich, learned his fate before U.S. District Court Judge Julia E. Kobick. In addition to his six-month prison term, Van Cott will face two years of supervised release, a $2,000 fine, and an upcoming restitution hearing to determine the exact financial payback owed to Plymouth Public Schools.
Van Cott previously entered guilty pleas to one count of theft concerning programs receiving federal funds and two counts of wire fraud.
An 11-Year Pilfering Operation
According to federal prosecutors, the illegal enterprise began in 2014—the same year Van Cott opened “The Snack Shack” seasonal eatery at Sandy Neck Beach in Barnstable. Serving as the Director of Food Services for Plymouth Public Schools since 2003, Van Cott held exclusive authority over cafeteria supply orders, a position of trust he systematically exploited for more than a decade.
Investigators detailed a staggering inventory of commercial-grade kitchen infrastructure and inventory hauled away from school facilities. Over the course of the scheme, Van Cott diverted:
- Two commercial refrigerators valued at $2,200 each
- A two-door industrial freezer valued at $3,950
- Cooking hardware, including two 12-inch hot plates, a 24-inch griddle, a chargrill, and a commercial fryolator
- A convection oven, a sandwich preparation table, metal shelving units, and hanging chalkboards
Beyond heavy appliances, Van Cott regularly siphoned bulk food items, paper goods, and institutional inventory paid for by the district’s cafeteria revolving fund or supplied via the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Prosecutors noted that he funneled hundreds of pounds of hot dogs, diced chicken, cooking oil, snacks, and coffee to his beach shack. He even spent over $3,000 in school funds on premium burger patties explicitly destined for his private menu.
The operation also leveraged school labor. Investigators revealed that during summer months, Van Cott routinely instructed Plymouth cafeteria workers to slice up to nine pounds of deli turkey and four and a half pounds of deli ham weekly, which he then transported across the Sagamore Bridge to sell for personal profit in Barnstable.
The Investigation and Downfall
The multi-year fraud finally unraveled following an anonymous letter sent by a school employee to district administrators, alerting them to suspicious inventory discrepancies.
The subsequent internal review and police investigation quickly uncovered damning evidence, including surveillance footage from a school loading dock. The cameras captured Van Cott loading a school refrigerator into a town vehicle on a Saturday, driving it toward Cape Cod, and later returning in his personal pickup truck to haul away a second commercial unit.
Placed on immediate administrative leave following his arrest in June 2025, Van Cott’s 22-year tenure with the school district came to an ignominious end.
During the sentencing hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristina Barclay emphasized the calculated and protracted nature of the offenses, arguing that Van Cott “completely outfitted his side business on the backs of Plymouth schoolkids.”
While acknowledging expressions of remorse from the defense, Judge Kobick stressed that the illegal acts were far from a momentary lapse in judgment. “Your crime here was a serious one,” Judge Kobick told the defendant. “Your job was to look out for public school students. You did that, but you also looked out for yourself.”
