Crime
80-year-old nun sentenced for stealing $835k from CA elementary school
Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper apologized for her actions. Prosecutors said the stolen money could have covered a decade of tuition for 14 students at a school that often lacked money for field trips or new books.
February 9, 2022 9:43am
Updated: February 9, 2022 9:43am
An 80-year-old nun was sentenced to one year and one day in prison after admitting to stealing around $835,000 from the California elementary school she worked at and retired from, according to the Los Angeles Times.
“I have sinned, I have broken the law, and I have no excuses,” Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, the former principal of St. James Catholic School, told the judge.
She called her crimes “a violation of my vows, the commandments, the law, and above all the sacred trust that so many had placed in me.”
Kreuper was the principal at the elementary school in Torrance, California until she retired in 2018 after 28 years in the position. She pled guilty to wire fraud and money laundering in July, admitting she had stolen tuition checks and spent much of it on vacations to Lake Tahoe and gambling trips to Las Vegas, among other things.
Prosecutors said the stolen money could have covered a decade of tuition for 14 students at a school that often lacked money for field trips or new books.
U.S. District Judge Otis D. Wright said it was difficult to decide on a sentence, telling the Zoom audience at the sentencing hearing, “I haven’t slept well in God knows how long.”
Some former students stepped forward to defend the sister, including Judge Wright, 77, a Marine veteran who said he “owed where I am today” in large part to a nun who inspired him early in life.
Others called for her to serve time in prison, both in court and private letters addressed to the judge and prosecutors,
“Put simply, anyone who stole over $800,000 from a school would go to prison, your honor,” Assistant U.S. Atty. Poonam Kumar told the judge.
When the Archdiocese of Los Angeles first confronted Kreuper about the misconduct, she argued she deserved a raise because priests were paid better than nuns, reported the L.A. Times.
Krueper has been ordered by the court to pay $835,339 to St. James, which was reduced by $10,000 to account for what has already been repaid at the prosecutor’s request.
