SisterMary Margaret Kreuper, 80, was sentenced on Monday to 12 months and one day in federal prison byU.S. District Judge Otis D. Wright II and ordered to pay$825,338 in restitution to theSt. James Catholic School in Torrance, California, according to a press release from theU.S. Attorneys Office in the Central District of California. While at the organization, she was responsible for the money the school received to pay for tuition and fees as well as charitable donations. An 80-year-old nun who admitted stealing $835,000 from a Torrance elementary school asked a federal judge on Monday to show mercy and spare her from prison. The religious order Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, of which Sr. Mary Margaret Kreuper and Sr. Lana Chang are members, has agreed to a "full restitution" of money used for personal matters by the two women, the letter said. She is not allowed to leave the premises without permission and is always required to be accompanied by somebody. LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) Mary Margaret Kreuper, a now-retired nun who was the principal of St. James Catholic School in Torrance, has agreed to plead guilty to fraud and money laundering charges for. Earlier in January this year, former president Donald Trump pardoned Steve Bannon who was facing a federal case when he was charged with defrauding donors of more than a million dollars as part of a fundraising campaign to build the US-Mexico border wall. document.querySelector("#ads").addEventListener('click',function(){ eventAction: 'load' Kreuper is also accused of directing St. James School employees to alter and destroy financial records during a school audit. The now-retired nun, Mary Margaret Kreuper,. We do know that they had a pattern of going on trips. Poonam Kumar told the judge. Kreuper, who as a nun had taken a vow of poverty, diverted school funds into the St. James Convent Account and the St. James Savings Account and then used the diverted funds to pay for expenses that the order would not have approved, much less paid for, including large gambling expenses incurred at casinos and certain credit card charges, according to court documents. coming from you," he said from the bench when she appeared in court on Thursday. According to authorities, she spent 10 years embezzling money from St. James Catholic School where she served as principal. Author of the article: Of course, none of her control legitimately extended to using school funds for large gambling expenses incurred at casinos and certain credit card charges, but that is what Kreuper did. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. MEAWW is an initialism for Media Entertainment Arts WorldWide. He settled on one year and a day in prison. 312 North Spring Street
ga('ads.send', { Kreuper promised to follow more closely in Christs footsteps and spend the rest of her life trying to make amends. The church was made aware of the scheme around June when it began a routine audit in response to Kreupers retiring. I was wrong, and I am profoundly sorry for the pain and the suffering that I have caused so many people, she told Wright. Kreuper controlled accounts at a credit union, including a savings account for the school and one established to pay the living expenses of the nuns employed by the school, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement. Mary Margaret Kreuper, 80, of Los Angeles, pleaded guilty in July to federal wire fraud and money laundering charges. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, 80, who took a vow of poverty, begged a judge to show . ga('ads.send', { }); The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet confirm that today the judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles has sentenced our Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, CSJ to one year and one day in federal prison followed by two years' supervised release. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Yosemite breaks decades-old snowfall record, closing national park indefinitely, San Diego federal judge had defendants 13-year-old daughter handcuffed. In a memo to the judge, prosecutors cited letters from parents and students, including one from a 12-year-old saying Kreuper was just like any other robber.. As the school's principal, she was responsible for managing money received by the. Two Catholic school nuns accused of embezzling about a half-million dollars in tuition, fees and donations from a school allegedly used some of the money to gamble in Las Vegas, according to officials cited in a news report. Mary Margaret Kreuper, 79, was charged Tuesday with one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering, according to the U.S. attorney's office for the Central District of California. Our community is concerned and saddened by this situation and regret any injury to our long relationship with the families of the school. We do know they had a pattern of going to casinos, and the reality is, they used the account as their personal account," an attorney told the crowd at the meeting. Kreuper acknowledged that for a period of 10 years ending in September 2018, she embezzled $835,339 from St. James Catholic School. Now Mary Margaret Kreuper, 80, is set to spend a year and a day in prison followed by two years of supervised release. "She became a nun when she was 18 years old, and for the next 59 years she dedicated her life to helping others and educating children in Archdiocesan schools," he stated. But it doesnt mean hes a criminal, Rain check! 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After charges were filed, her attorneys issued a statement saying she suffered "from mental illness that clouded her judgment.". After reviewing all the letters, Wright said, it appeared most families had forgiven Kreuper. window.adsContainer = {"positionAfterTitle":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Middle5_Rel_Newrev","isOrganicUserAd":true,"max_width":336,"max_height":280},"position2":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_After_Title_Rel_Newrev","max_width":336,"max_height":280},"position3":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Below_Next_Rel_Newrev","max_width":300,"max_height":250},"position4":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Middle_Rel_Newrev","max_width":300,"max_height":250},"position5":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Middle1_Rel_Newrev","max_width":300,"max_height":250},"position6":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Middle2_Rel_Newrev","max_width":336,"max_height":280},"position7":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Middle3_Rel_Newrev","max_width":300,"max_height":250},"position8":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Middle4_Rel_Newrev","max_width":300,"max_height":250},"position9":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Middle5_Rel_Newrev","max_width":336,"max_height":280},"position10":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Middle6_Rel_Newrev","max_width":336,"max_height":280},"position11":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Middle7_Rel_Newrev","max_width":336,"max_height":280},"position12":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Middle8_Rel_Newrev","max_width":336,"max_height":280},"position13":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Middle9_Rel_Newrev","max_width":336,"max_height":280},"position14":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Middle10_Rel_Newrev","max_width":336,"max_height":280},"position15":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Middle11_Rel_Newrev","max_width":336,"max_height":280},"position16":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Middle12_Rel_Newrev","max_width":336,"max_height":280},"positionTop":{"code":"Article_Desktop_970x250_Header_Rel","isOrganicUserAd":false,"max_width":970,"max_height":250},"positionBottom":{"code":"Article_Desktop_Sidebar_Bottom_Rel_Newrev","isOrganicUserAd":true,"max_width":300,"max_height":600},"positionBottomRight":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_After_Title_Rel_Newrev","isOrganicUserAd":true,"max_width":336,"max_height":280}} The 79-year-old Los Angeles resident was charged Tuesday with one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering. Assistant US Attorney Poonam Kumar told The New York Post that Kreuper even asked parents to donate more money in addition to their $6,000 annual fees. First published on June 8, 2021 / 8:30 PM. 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. United States Attorneys Office She convinced school administration into thinking everything was on the up and up. My son got the best education possible, in fact, I probably wouldve paid double the tuition rate in order for my son to attend St. James.. "I don't look at nuns as ordinary people," he said, according to FOX 6. media-tech companies with hubs around the world. Ive used this to teach my son that were all human, we all make mistakes, but the power of forgiveness is the most powerful tool that we have.. In private letters to Wright and remarks at the video hearing, some former St. James students asked him to put the nun behind bars. [emailprotected]. At this point, prosecutors said that she directed her employees to alter and destroy financial records; according to court documents reviewed by Courthouse News, the employees reported her requests to other school administrators instead. Wright also said that as someone who had been educated by nuns, "unlike most cases, this one will be a struggle.". if(document.querySelector("#ads")){ She also controlled accounts at a credit union, including a savings account for the school and one used to pay for the living expenses of the nuns employed by the school. }); LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Mary Margaret Kreuper, a now-retired nun and a Los Angeles resident was charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering on Tuesday, June 8. Mary Margaret Kreuper, 79, was charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering on Tuesday and has agreed to a plea deal for allegedly embezzling $835,000 while she was the. At least I hope you do.. Mary Margaret Kreuper was the principal of the elementary school for 28 years. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. She will appear for an arraignment at the United States District Court on July 1. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper admitted embezzling $835,000 from St James Catholic School in the LA suburb of Torrance. Despite her nun's vow of poverty . She has agreed to plead guilty to the charges for embezzling more than $835,000 from the funds of St. James Catholic School where she served as principal a couple of years ago, to pay for her personal expenses. Not all of the years appear to have involved alleged financial crimes. Following Mondays hearing Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper was released under her own recognizance and is required to turn herself in to the Federal Bureau of Prisons by June 7, 2022. Kreuper was sentenced to one year in prison Monday and told to pay back the money. }); I havent slept well in God knows how long, Wright told a Zoom hearing audience, rejecting prosecutors call for a two-year term and saying he could not bring himself to judge Kreuper solely on the worst thing that shes done in her life.. The charges carry up to 40. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, was sentenced to one year and one day for fraud and money laundering. As per the plea deal, Kreuper reportedly used the embezzled money to fund her personal expenses, including large gambling bets and vacations to Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe and Temecula. A retired nun accused of gambling with the funds of a Torrance Catholic school where she worked as the principal faces federal prison time after pleading gui. Prosecutors filed federal wire fraud and money laundering charges against Mary Margaret Kreuper, 79, for "stealing more than $835,000 in school funds to pay for personal expenses, including. She pleaded guilty last July to one count . eventAction: 'click_adunit' The retired principal of a Catholic elementary school in Torrance who embezzled more than $835,000 in school funds to support a gambling habit was sentenced to one year in prison on Monday. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper was just 18 years old when she took vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. As soon as she was confronted, she accepted full responsibility for what she had done and she has cooperated fully with law enforcement and the Archdiocese. Nuns should realize that just by living their lives and living the way they do and treating people the way they do, they affect children for the rest of their lives, said Wright, who fell silent and covered his face in his hands for a long pause during his pronouncement of the sentence. We, and those who share our charism and mission. Church officials previously said they did not want to press criminal charges against the nuns. Have a tip we should know? 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