Pennsylvania: Embezzlement plea deal stresses restitution

Embezzlement plea deal for New Cumberland couple stresses restitution
CHRISTINA KAUFFMAN - The York Dispatch

Plea deals have been reached in charges against a New Cumberland couple who embezzled about $66,000 from the Pennsylvania School Boards Association after the wife developed a gambling addiction.

Stacie L. Carmines, 41, and David N. Carmines, 39, of 1602 Elm St., negotiated agreements with the York County District Attorney's Office.

Under the deal, Stacie Carmines pleaded guilty to charges of theft by deception and criminal conspiracy to commit theft by deception and will spend six months in jail, have a year of house arrest and five years of probation, said Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Smith.

Smith said another theft charge, and charges of receiving stolen property and unlawful use of a computer were dropped as part of the agreement.

Stacie Carmines won't be sentenced until Sept. 19, because she's trying to find a job so she can enter a work-release program during the incarceration, Smith said.

She and her husband will each pay more than $30,000 in restitution, Smith said.

"With this amount of restitution, we were not opposed to (waiting for sentencing) because our main concern was making sure the school board association gets its money back," she said. "And in this case, we took into consideration that neither had a prior record ... and her gambling addiction."

Husband's sentence: David Carmines was sentenced Thursday morning, after agreeing to plead guilty to theft by deception and criminal conspiracy. He'll serve a year under house arrest, during which he can leave to go to work, and six years of probation, Smith said.

A charge of receiving stolen property was dropped.

Defense attorney Glenn J. Smith said he thinks the sentences were fair, as a "significant amount of jail time" would have prevented his clients from working and paying restitution.

He said the couple has proactively, without the court's order, gotten treatment for the gambling problem.

"He participated to better understand the issues his wife was facing," Smith said. "They were not forced to do it."

They also sought self-exclusion from any gaming facilities in the state through the state's Gaming Control Board. Under the program, the Carmineses will not be allowed inside gaming facilities and would be arrested for trespass if found inside, Smith said.

The charges: Stacie Carmines worked for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association for more than 10 years and stole $66,060.34 between August and November of 2010, according to charging documents, which state her husband assisted her in the thefts.

She created a false account for a "payable provider" using her husband's name and had checks made out to him, documents state.

Stacie Carmines told police that she never took anything before becoming addicted to gambling, documents state. Since then they lost everything, including their house and three vehicles, she told police.

Smith said his clients used the money for gambling or other "problems caused as a result of the gambling."

The two were charged in February, after an audit revealed discrepanies.