Former Vice President Joe Biden’s niece avoided jail on Thursday after a Manhattan Criminal Court judge sentenced her to two years’ probation for stealing more than $100,000 in a credit card scam.
Caroline Biden, 31, accepted the two-year probation sentence after she pleaded guilty in June 2017 to racking up $110,810 worth of charges on a borrowed credit card as she went on a shopping spree.
“I not only acknowledge my conduct and take responsibility but deeply regret the harm caused,” Caroline told Justice Curtis Farber at her Thursday sentencing, according to the New York Post. “I can assure you that I have made amends, full restitution, completed community service and that nothing like this will ever happen again.”
As part of the sweetheart deal, the judge tossed the felony count of grand larceny while she pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of petit larceny.
Biden’s niece also completed ten days of community service at a children’s hospital, paid back the $110,810 she stole, and agreed to stay out of trouble as part of the deal.
Police arrested Caroline in May 2017 after she spent over $100,000 on purchases at Bigelow Pharmacy in New York with a stolen credit card between April 2015 and June 2016. Caroline asked the unnamed victim if she could borrow a credit card to make a $672 purchase.
Authorities initially charged her with grand and petit larceny and she initially pleaded guilty to both charges in exchange for two years’ probation.
The judge offered her a deal where she would plead guilty to both counts under the condition that she pay back the stolen money and stay out of trouble. In exchange for the guilty plea and the restitution, the judge agreed to drop the felony count of grand larceny.
Biden’s niece has a history of run-ins with the law and avoiding jail for her alleged misdeeds. In 2013, she got into a fight with a roommate over a rent dispute and hit a police officer. She was arrested on charges of harassment, resisting arrest, and obstruction of justice.
Caroline, who had a history of drug and alcohol problems, managed to avoid jail in that case when the court ordered that her charges be dropped after six months so long as she stayed out of trouble and remained in the Delray Beach, Florida, rehab facility where she was staying for three additional months.