02-08-2025
Outrageously forgiving sentence for secretary who embezzled $150K from elementary school
A New York City secretary who admitted embezzling $145,000 from the elementary school where she worked has avoided jail.
Michele Cenci, 55, of Staten Island, exploited her full access to the checkbook and purchasing system at PS 21 Margaret Emery-Elm Park, quietly diverting school funds to herself and her family for over seven years.
She pleaded guilty to one count of grand larceny this week, securing a deal that sentenced her to five years of probation instead of prison time, as reported by The New York Post.
'While my office fought for even more serious consequences, including imprisonment, for Ms. Cenci's shameless criminal behavior, the judge's plea offer ensures some semblance of accountability for her criminal acts,' Staten Island District Attorney Michael McMahon told the outlet.
In January 2024, Cenci was arraigned on an 18-count indictment for stealing nearly $150,000 over the course of her career.
Cenci used the stolen funds to 'supplement' her $84,950 Department of Education (DOE) salary, all at the expense of PS 21's 398 students, a third of whom have disabilities.
'This defendant's alleged crimes over a period of several years robbed the students and staff of PS 21 of funds meant to be used for books, materials, and other supplies to support the pursuit of a high-quality education for Staten Islanders as young as five years old,' McMahon said.
Officials said Cenci used a variety of deceptive tactics to steal from the school, including writing 127 checks totaling nearly $89,000 to herself and to family members' accounts she controlled.
Cenci, who full access to the checkbook and purchasing system at PS 21 Margaret Emery-Elm Park (pictured), used the stolen funds to 'supplement' her Department of Education (DOE) salary - totaling $84,950 in 2024 - all at the expense of the school's 398 students
She disguised the checks as legitimate vendor payments or fake reimbursements, some for purchases that never happened, others as duplicates of real expenses and some made out to other staff members.
'Instead, she was lining her own pockets,' Anastasia Coleman, Special Commissioner of Investigation for city schools, said.
Cenci also used the school's payment system a staggering 257 times to take an additional $56,000 in a similar way.
In January, the district attorney charged Cenci with two counts of grand larceny, a felony punishable by five to 15 years in prison.
She was slapped with handed charges of tampering with public records, falsifying business records and forgery.
Although she initially pleaded not guilty, State Supreme Court Judge Lisa Gray offered Cenci a plea deal that spared her prison time, despite objections from the prosecutor, McMahon told The Post.
In addition to a five-year probation period, Cenci agreed to pay $46,000 upfront in restitution, followed by monthly payments of $1,500 until her probation ends.
The ultimate goal of her sentence is to ensure that she 'pays back every dollar and cent she robbed from our students', McMahon added.
'Every single day, thousands of Staten Islanders travel to work in our borough's public schools to honestly and earnestly do the best possible job they can on behalf of our children, so when the trust we place in them to do that job is broken, there must be serious consequences,' he said.
Following Cenci's indictment, Coleman issued a sharp warning to deter similar fraud schemes from taking root anywhere else in the city.
'We ask that all school administrators take the time to review their school's budget, books and records to ensure that their funds are being allocated appropriately, and that no one else is attempting the same sort of scheme,' she said.
The Department of Education, according to The Post, confirmed that Cenci has since retired.
