"She doesn't have anywhere to go," he said. Kristen Biel would return to teaching elsewhere while fighting her case in court, but in June 2019, she died. I wanted to see them. Two nuns who formerly worked at St. James Catholic School in Torrance, California, confessed to embezzling at least $500,000 from the school so that they could gamble it away at Las Vegas casinos, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles said at a meeting with parents and alumni on Monday. But the court's eventual decision could reach beyond teachers, affecting the lives of millions of other employees who work for religiously affiliated institutions. Prosecutors had recommended a 24-month prison sentence, three years of . A Los Angeles nun jailed for stealing more than $800,000 to fund a gambling habit has admitted "I have sinned". Kreuper, 79, was charged Tuesday with one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering, and in a plea agreement pleaded guilty to both charges, the Associated Press reported. In 2012, the Supreme Court sought to answer that question, agreeing unanimously that a fourth-grade teacher who was commissioned as a minister could not sue over her firing by a Lutheran school. Sister Mary Margarets lawyers said that she is very remorseful, and has been suffering from a mental illness that clouded her judgement and caused her to do something that she otherwise would not have done.. The judge settled on a prison sentence of one year and a day and also ordered Kreuper to pay back the money she had stolen from the school. "Far from it. By signing up to the Blaze News newsletter you agree to receive electronic communications from Blaze Media that may sometimes include advertisements or sponsored content. Kreuper falsified monthly and annual reports to cover up her crime and asked school employees to alter and destroy financial records during an audit. Mary Margaret Kreuper was so close to getting away with it. The school soon had a change of heart following pushback. Parents said the two nuns were big on moral. Similar articles were published by the Los Angeles Times, KTLA, and Unilad.co.uk. Her husband, Darryl Biel, remembers that day vividly. My actions were in violation of my vows, my commandments, the law and, above all, the sacred trust that so many had placed in me. News of the indiscretions led to the archdiocese and the church announcing they wouldnt file criminal charges against the nuns after apologizing for their actions. In June 2021, Mary Margaret Kreuper, a Catholic nun in the Los Angeles congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, entered into a plea agreement with the U.S. District Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, whereby she committed to pleading guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering, and admitted taking part in a 10-year scheme to defraud St. James' Catholic School, an elementary school in Torrance, California, where she had served as principal for 28 years, to the amount of $835,000. As principal, Kreuper had been in charge of the school's credit union account, where she was meant to deposit cash and checks from tuition, fees and donations. Of course, at 79, the likelihood that Sister Mary Margaret will see any jail time is relatively slim. Her embezzlement activities took place from about 2008-2018. But Fisher counters that function can't be the only criterion because many employers at religiously affiliated institutions sincerely believe that all of their employees perform important ministerial functions, from nurses who care for the sick, to summer camp counselors for troubled teenagers, and athletic coaches who mold the character of their charges and often lead them in prayer. The scheme was uncovered during an audit after Kreuper retired in 2018. A retired nun has admitted to embezzling $835,000 over 10 years from a Catholic school in California to fund her gambling habit, according to federal prosecutors. Other parents remarked it was well-known that Kreuper and Chang traveled often and went gambling, with the two women claiming they were gifted the trips by a rich relative. Those reports were accurate, and we are issuing a rating of "True.". Advice for the relationships in your life and how to boost your own well-being. For more information about our use of cookies, our collection, use, and disclosure of personal information generally, and any rights you may have to access, delete, or opt out of the sale of your personal information, please view our, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Image Via Scott Varley/Digital First Media/ Torrance Daily Breeze via Getty Images. They and their Order pray that you have not lost trust or faith in the educators and administrators of the school. "She's 80. The Los Angeles native embezzled more than $835,000 from the Catholic school in Torrance, Calif., where she was principal to pay for 10 years of personal expenses, including her many gambling trips to Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe, according to federal prosecutors. The Archdiocese appears to have now changed course-with ABC Newsreporting a criminal case may now be in the works following deepening investigations. A Los Angeles nun recently pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $800,000. While claiming to live financially destitute like Jesus Christ is probably blasphemous, using the old Im poor, but my uncle is rich line and getting away with it speaks to Sister Mary Margarets impressive poker face. Because the funds were to be restored, the archdiocese decided not to press criminal charges. According to the outlet, "Kreuper acknowledged diverting money to pay for personal expenses that included credit card charges and 'large gambling expenses incurred at casinos,' the U.S. attorney's office said.". 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. Kreuper was 18 years old when she took her vow of poverty, according to her lawyers, and spent the next 59 years of her life dedicated to the church. But as the archdiocese was completing its audit, it noticed something was off with the funding. These nuns took a vow of poverty and said, oh no, weve got a rich uncle, one parent told the Press-Telegram. Let us pray for our school families and for Sister Mary Margaret and Sister Lana, the letter added. But this week, prosecutors said Sister Mary Margaret, 79, had agreed to plead guilty to stealing more than. Told one parent, We were an ATM, and people know it and they wont ask for justice., The embezzlement and the churchs seeming reluctance to act has led to some locals saying the scandal underscores a failure of church leadership- while also noting that only a police investigation can be trusted.. 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. "The Gambling Nuns" saga is unlikely to come up at the Supreme Court, but it certainly is on Darryl Biel's mind. As soon as she was confronted, she accepted full responsibility for what she had done and she has cooperated completely with law enforcement and the archdiocese, the statement said, adding that she has been suffering from a mental illness that clouded her judgment. On Monday night, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles told parents and alumni at a meeting that Sisters Mary Margaret Kreuper and Lana Chang, described as best friends, took around $500,000 from St . Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, 80, was sentenced on Monday to 12 months and one day in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Otis D. Wright II and ordered to pay $825,338 in restitution to the St. James Catholic School in Torrance, California . According to prosecutors, Kreuper had stolen whats estimated to have been the tuition for 14 students at the K-8 school in funds that were intended to further the students education, not fund [Kreupers] lifestyle., When confronted, the defendant admitted to stealing the money, Kumar said. The sisters later confessed to using the funds for themselves. (Shutterstock) LOS ANGELES, CA The retired principal of a Catholic . 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Investigators described a system in which Kreuper handled all checks made out to the school for tuition and fees before handing them over to bookkeeping staff for processing. She spent the next 59 years of her life dedicated to the church, they said. She betrayed the trust of people in the community, the parents, students, the archdiocese and the sisters. (deployads = window.deployads || []).push({}); (function() { All rights reserved. At the sentencing hearing, those who spoke were split on their feelings toward the nun and what she had done. The schools denied that Morrissey-Berru and Biel were fired for discriminatory reasons. The tuition checks and funds sent to St. James Catholic School between 2008 and 2018 that were stolen by Kreuper equaled the tuition of 14 different students per year, prosecutors said. I have sinned, I have broken the law and I have no excuses, Kreuper told the judge during her hearing, according to the Los Angeles Times. Sister Kreuper who took a vow of poverty confessed to using the embezzled funds to pay for personal expenses, including her gambling habit. Mark Byrne, Kreupers attorney, told The Post his client had accepted the judges one-year prison sentence, even if they were pushing for probation. Mary Margaret Kreuper, 80, of Los Angeles, was sentenced to a year in prison and ordered to pay $825,338 in restitution. She's obviously not employable.". She faces up to 40 years in federal prison, but is claiming mental illness. She just enjoyed gambling, he said. The 79-year-old former nun pleaded guilty to federal charges for stealing more than $800,000 from St. James Catholic School earlier this month. During his sentencing, Wright, a 2007 appointee under President George W. Bush, praised Kreuper for her tenure as one heck of a teacher at the school. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper had taken a vow of poverty. Maryland man, 52, sues bar over ban cause he was old Missouri daughter secretly donates kidney to ailing dad. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, 80, who took a vow of poverty, begged a judge to show her mercy and spare her prison, saying: "I have sinned, I've broken the law and I have no excuses." She called her crimes a "violation of my vows, my commandments, the law and, above all, the sacred trust that so many had placed in me". Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, the retired principal of St. James Catholic School in California, has been sentenced to one year and a day in prison on charges of money laundering and federal wire. Your membership is the foundation of our sustainability and resilience. But, Fisher counters, that "this isn't something you measure with a stopwatch." The fraud was discovered after an internal investigation at the end of the same year. Were those functions to be considered ministerial, Fisher says, the results would be dire. Mary Margaret Kreuper, a nun who admitted stealing more than $800,000 from St. James Catholic School in Torrance when she was its principal, spent some of the money on trips to Las Vegas and. Dan Mac Guill is a former writer for Snopes. All they needed to do was get through the school year. Kreuper was in charge of the schools credit union account, where she was meant to deposit cash and checks from tuition, fees and donations. When first confronted, Mr Kumar said, the nun claimed she "did it in part because she believes priests get paid better than nuns". His wife, he said, drove into their driveway "in tears bawling hysterically. Mary Margaret Kreuper (Image source: KTTV-TV video screenshot). Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, who worked as the school principal for 28 years, and Sister Lana Chang, a teacher at the school for 20 years, reportedly bilked the funds over a period of at least a . Kreuper has agreed to plead guilty to the charges in a deal with prosecutors, the US Attorney's Office of California said in a statement. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper and Sister Lana Chang were seen as two of the strictest nuns at St James Catholic School in Torrance, California. Bank records show Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper and Sister Lana Chang had been embezzling funds from St. James Catholic School in Torrance for at least a decade, the Press-Telegram reported. She was also entrusted with overseeing the St. James Covenant Account, a savings account that funded the living expenses of the nuns who worked at the school, the indictment against her states. Since 2014, The Marshall Project has been curating some of the best criminal justice reporting from around the web. This article was published more than1 year ago. A now-retired nun has pleaded guilty to stealing more than $800,000 from the St. James Catholic School in Torrance, California, from 2008 to 2018, the last decade of her 28-year tenure as principal of the institution. "I have sinned," Sister Mary told a US . "As soon as she was confronted she accepted full responsibility for what she had done and she has cooperated completely with law enforcement and the Archdiocese,the pair said in a joint statement. I was wrong, and Im profoundly sorry for the pain and suffering Ive caused so many people., Despite her vow of poverty, nun stole more than $835,000 from a Catholic school, prosecutors said. They say she also instructed employees at the school to alter and destroy financial records during a school audit, investigators found. As principal of St. James Catholic School in Torrance, California, she certainly did but while also embezzling more than $835,000 in funds to support her secretive gambling habit. The 79-year-old former nun pleaded guilty to federal charges for stealing more than $800,000 from St. James Catholic School earlier this month. Pic: St James Catholic School. The account was opened in 1997 but had not been used in years, until Sister Mary Margaret started diverting checks into the forgotten account. The principal allegedly withheld some of the checks and deposited them into the other account, endorsing the back with a stamp that read, St. Kreuper became principal at St. James Catholic School in 1990, a position she held for 28 years until her retirement in September 2018. Nun who stole $835K from school to fund gambling habit is going to prison: I have sinned, Carolyn Hax: Boyfriends visits leave single mom with no time for herself, Miss Manners: What to do when a fellow diner was rude to server. znscr.parentNode.insertBefore(zergnet, znscr); `` I have sinned '' against Kreuper in the works following deepening investigations Fisher says, the and... 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