Couple Gets 5 Years Probation for Swindling $771,000 from Special Needs School

A New Jersey couple is evading prison after admitting in court that they swindled $771,000 in New York City taxpayer money from a school for children with special needs.

Staten Island Supreme Court Justice Alexander Jeong sentenced Dennis Mosesman, 71, and his wife, Elsie, 72, to five years of probation after the pair took a plea deal that would allow them to pay back money they stole from the Gingerbread Learning Center in Staten Island, New York, the New York Daily News reported.

Staten Island Live reported that both Dennis and Elsie pleaded guilty to grand larceny charges in March.

The couple will have to fork over assets worth $175,000 and pay $625,000 on top of that, according to the Daily News.

Staten Island District Attorney Michael McMahon disagreed, saying that the couple should have received prison time money for padding a lavish lifestyle which included luxury vehicles and home landscaping projects.

“We believe such deplorable crimes deserve nothing short of prison time, but the judge on this case ultimately sentenced the defendants to five years’ probation over the strong objections of my office,” McMahon said.

“This husband and wife stole taxpayer money that should have gone to help special-needs children, but instead was spent on their own personal indulgences.”

Authorities also say Mosesman, who was president of the preschool, created a $150,000 per year position for his wife where she would not have to work.

The preschool, located in the Willowbrook section of New York City’s Staten Island, serves 100 children between the ages of 3 and 5 years old who have developmental challenges.