Woman narrowly escapes jail for bingo embezzlement

Some people simply cant resist the tempting perils of playing bingo. But you always get those that take it too far and don’t play it to win, but play it to steal.

As such, Kim Pietrzak’s liable request to one count of third-degree grand burglary for unlawfully taking bingo cash from Resurrection Parish on Como Park Boulevard in Cheektowaga has cost her $10,000 in compensation and two employments – the one she had when she stole the cash and the one she had when data about her wrongdoing showed up in the news media.

Her confirmation won’t cost her anytime time in jail, however, in the event that she submits to the conditions set out by Erie County Judge Michael L. D’Amico on Thursday when he sentenced her to five years’ probation and 500 hours of group administration.

“I apologize,” a sad and tearful Pietrzak informed the judge. “I guarantee this won’t happen again in my future.”

Since she already affirmed that she and some of her collaborators at the congregation utilized the cash to bet, D’Amico included in his conditions that she stay out of club and some other spots where individuals can bet.

Pietrzak, 47, of Fairelm Lane, Cheektowaga, initially was accused of various tallies of grand theft and fraud amid the time she was business chief at the congregation, somewhere around 2010 and 2012. Shockingly, she additionally was blamed for taking more than $1,000 by setting individual buys on an parish Visa.

In spite of the fact that the first prosecution blamed her for taking $49,836 in bingo cash, the total sum missing from the congregation was never affirmed, and the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo has said its examination concerning the missing cash stays open. The issues were found amid a review that uncovered various bookkeeping errors and prompted the contribution of the District Attorney’s Office.

In the meantime, the diocese exclaimed, the parish “has reinforced existing Diocesan Best Parish Practices Guidelines and implemented other audit recommendations.”

Pietrzak’s case is by no means an isolated case, in another example, a previous Toys R Us store director was sentenced to at least 1½ years in jail after he conceded taking about $42,000 from his executive to bolster his betting propensity. He was captured in June 2014.

Brandon S. Staszak, 41, of Cheektowaga, had two earlier offenses for driving while inebriated before he confessed to third-degree attempted grand larceny for the theft.

Province Judge Kenneth F. Case sentenced Staszak to 1½ to three years in jail. Staszak as of now has reimbursed a large portion of the cash, and Case gave him 60 months taking after his discharge from jail to finish the restitution.