DANVERS — The former executive chef at an upscale steakhouse will spend a year on probation after admitting yesterday to using a diner's credit card to purchase radio-controlled cars and accessories from a Danvers shop last winter.
Christian Guide, 41, of Andover pleaded guilty to a charge of misuse of a credit card during a hearing yesterday in Salem District Court.
Guide was, until he was charged in the Danvers incident and a similar one in Billerica, the executive chef for The Capital Grille's Burlington restaurant.
A second man, Thomas Mustone, 33, a truck driver from Stoneham, pleaded guilty to the same charge during a separate hearing and was also sentenced to a year of probation.
Assistant District Attorney Patrick Collins said that on Dec. 10, two men, later identified as Guide and Mustone, went into the RC Car Store on Water Street in Danvers and purchased two high-end, radio-controlled cars and some accessories, then used a credit card belonging to someone else to pay the $1,311 bill.
The store's owner discovered the fraud in February, when he got a call from the credit card company saying that the cardholder was disputing the charge.
It turns out that another store that sells radio-controlled cars, Hobby Fever in Billerica, had also been the victim of a credit card fraud, after someone else's credit card was used there to purchase more than $2,200 worth of remote-controlled cars and accessories.
Surveillance photos from that store were posted on the Massachusetts Most Wanted website, and a Stoneham police officer recognized Mustone, which led to the pair's arrests.
Guide initially claimed to police that he "finds" a lot of credit cards at work but later on admitted he had stolen two cards.
A Billerica police detective charged Guide with credit card fraud and passed along the information to Danvers police, who brought charges against both men.
Guide still faces felony credit card fraud and identity fraud charges in Lowell District Court and is due back there on Aug. 19, said a spokeswoman for the Middlesex County district attorney's office.
Guide told Judge Michael Lauranzano that he holds two bachelor's degrees and a graduate degree in hotel and restaurant management.
A manager at The Capital Grille's Burlington location, where a steak alone can top $40, confirmed yesterday that Guide is no longer employed there.
Mike Bernstein, a spokesman for the restaurant chain, said that the company has a "zero-tolerance policy" when it comes to employees found to have committed fraud, saying that it's cause for termination. He would not specifically say whether Guide was fired, citing privacy concerns.
Bernstein said he also regrets the inconvenience caused to the customers.
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