Mary Margaret Kreuper (Image source: KTTV-TV video screenshot). She is looking forward to getting on with life and will get treatment for her gambling addiction, he said. 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. "I have sinned," Sister Mary told a US . Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, 80, admitted stealing the money from St James Catholic School in the L.A. suburb of Torrance, where she was school principal for nearly 30 years. After much public outcry to pursue legal action, the archdiocese hired a former FBI agent to investigate the two nuns. Thanks for contacting us. 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. Kreuper signed the plea agreement, which Snopes has obtained and which can be read in full here, on June 2, 2021. Mr Kumar said that jealousy played a part, calling the episode "really an abuse of position of trust". However, the church chose not to press charges against the two nuns. Eric Rassbach of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, who is representing the schools before the court, disagrees. It's just that you have to look and see what kind of function are they doing.". Dan Mac Guill is a former writer for Snopes. Although, formally speaking, Kreuper could face a punishment of up to 40 years in prison, it's unlikely she will receive such a long sentence. Mark Byrne, Kreupers attorney, told The Post his client had accepted the judges one-year prison sentence, even if they were pushing for probation. 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Though he acknowledges that the teachers taught religion from a workbook about three hours a week, Fisher says these teachers were "primarily lay employees" teaching "secular subjects. The fraud was discovered after an internal investigation at the end of the same year. After taking a vow of poverty, her excuse for lavish gambling expenses is hilarious. (deployads = window.deployads || []).push({}); (function() { Months after Kreuper admitted to stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars, the 80-year-old was sentenced on Monday to a year and a day in federal prison. 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.". The now-retired nun (I didnt know nuns could retire) admitted to stealing about $835,000 in donations, tuition and fees. Each of the counts carries a maximum sentence of 40 years behind bars. The scheme was uncovered during an audit after Kreuper retired in 2018. The rich uncle was the parents of the St. James students.. They dont want you to see this Big Tech does its best to limit what news you see. Kreuper, who had taken a vow of poverty as a nun, worked as a principal at St. James Catholic School in Torrance for 28 years and allegedly embezzled the funds for 10 years until her retirement in 2018. These nuns took a vow of poverty and said, Oh no, weve got a rich uncle, parent Jack Alexander said. I don't drink coffee, I wake up jacked. But as the archdiocese was completing its audit, it noticed something was off with the funding. 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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. One parent told the outlet of the situation: "It's crazy. At least, thats where they caught her. 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 decade, the Press-Telegram reported. The auditor found that tuition checks, fees and donations were being deposited into a bank account not used by the school. Ive used this to teach my son that were all human, we all make mistakes, but the power of forgiveness is the most powerful tool that we have.. Rather, he said, she is religiously trained and a commissioned minister of the church. Image Via Scott Varley/Digital First Media/ Torrance Daily Breeze via Getty Images. Local 10 News reported Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper and Sister Lana Chang of St.James Catholic School (both retiring earlier this year) using money from the school's funds to live a life of luxury over the last ten years. When first confronted, Mr Kumar said, the nun claimed she "did it in part because she believes priests get paid better than nuns". Mary Margaret Kreuper, 79, was charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering on Tuesday and has agreed to a plea deal, according to a release from the U.S. attorneys office for the Central District of California. This is because, as part of the plea deal, the prosecutors have agreed to recommend to the court an "offense level" of 25 for Kreuper's crimes, and will further advise the court to reduce that to 23, or even 22. The purpose is to protect leaders of the faith, and their religions, from interference by the government. It is "telling," in these cases, he says, that the "teachers did not even have to be Catholic to have these jobs.". An old unused bank account was the giveaway. On June 9, for example, Fox News reported that: A retired Los Angeles nun will plead guilty to embezzling $835,000 from the elementary school where she worked in order to cover her gambling habits and other personal expenses, officials said this week. Michael Meyers, the pastor at St. James Church. Her husband said that in her final days, the couple talked extensively about the case. Kreuper was principal at the school for 28 years. Mary Margaret Kreuper of Los Angeles was sentenced to one year and a day in prison after pleading guilty in July 2021 to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering, according. In doing so, she agreed to plead guilty to: The money laundering charge relates to an episode in 2017, in which Kreuper improperly deposited checks from parents of pupils at the school into a convent bank account, rather than the school's bank account, then later used the convent account to write a $6,000 check to another unnamed person who subsequently cashed the check and gave Kreuper $6,000 in cash "so she could gamble in Nevada.". The exception extends to religiously affiliated institutions when they fire employees who serve in a religious capacity akin to that of a minister. But when it came to the vow of poverty, the Southern California nun struggled to maintain her promise to the Catholic Church because of a gambling addiction that was out of control for a decade. Southern California authorities have revealed two nuns allegedly embezzling up to $500K which was parlayed into gambling jaunts in Las Vegas. In December of that year, fraud allegations emerged against her and another nun, Sister Lana Chang, who had taught at the school. German cardinal offers to resign over sexual abuse catastrophe, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. 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. Ultimately, "they are not people we understand to be spiritual leaders of the church.". Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, who was principal of St. James Catholic School in Torrance, California, used the school funds to . Prosecutors had recommended a 24-month prison sentence, three years of . Now, nearly three years later, she faces up to 40 years in prison and will appear in the Federal District Court in Los Angeles on July 1. The Torrancepair used the money for vacations and gambling at the casino while telling parents that the school was on a tight budget. Wright acknowledged in court that while he struggled to judge Kreuper, a decorated principal, on the worst thing that shes done in her life, the impact nuns have on young people in leading by example is crucial and the nuns actions gambled away that guiding principle. 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. Kreuper was 18 years old when she took vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, her lawyers told the Post. (RNS) Recently Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, a Catholic nun who stole $835,000 from a Catholic elementary school in Torrance, California, was sent to prison for a year and ordered to pay the . 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 . Kreuper was in charge of the schools credit union account, where she was meant to deposit cash and checks from tuition, fees and donations. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper had taken a vow of poverty. Parents said the two nuns were big on moral. Sister Mary Margaret became a nun when she turned 18 in 1960 and took a vow of poverty. The Archdiocese appears to have now changed course-with ABC Newsreporting a criminal case may now be in the works following deepening investigations. On. ", "Just as teaching science out of a fifth-grade textbook doesn't make them scientists, teaching religion for 40 minutes a day out of a workbook doesn't make them ministers," he says. Kreuper is due in court on 1 July and faces up to 40 years in federal prison. The rich uncle was the parents of the St. James students., The school monsignor has since sent out a letter in which the nuns asked that i convey to you the deep remorse they each feel for their actions and ask for your forgiveness and prayers.. Kreuper falsified monthly and annual reports to cover up her crime and asked school employees to alter and destroy financial records during an audit. By that math, Sister Mary Margaret was only 66 when the behavior began. Mary Margaret Kreuper, 80, of Los Angeles, pleaded guilty in July to federal wire fraud and money laundering charges. This time the question is whether lay teachers at parochial schools are exempt from the nation's fair employment laws. The embezzlement helped to fuel her gambling habit. I promised her I would see this through," he says. Your membership is the foundation of our sustainability and resilience. For years, St. James parents were told that the school was cash-strapped and unable to upgrade textbooks that were 20 years old, fund field trips or simply install an awning for the outdoor lunch area. 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. var znscr = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; Similar articles were published by the Los Angeles Times, KTLA, and Unilad.co.uk. "The Gambling Nuns" saga is unlikely to come up at the Supreme Court, but it certainly is on Darryl Biel's mind. Jaclyn Peiser contributed to this report. A spokesperson with St. James did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. The account was opened in 1997 but had not been used in years, until Sister Mary Margaret started diverting checks into the forgotten account. This was a manifestation of greed, Kumar said, adding that the nun had abused the trust of the community. Ultimately, he argues, the schools consider the teachers to be performing an important religious function, and therefore, they can be fired for any reason because they are not subject to the nation's fair employment laws. Each time, Kreuper had the same response to the community, according to the Times: How do you expect to pay for it? All the while, Kreuper spoke openly about her gambling trips, saying her vice principals wealthy relatives funded the casino excursions to Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe, prosecutors say. She became principal at St. James Catholic School, about 20 miles outside downtown Los Angeles, in 1990. The sisters, described as best friends, both retired earlier this year. When first confronted by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper blamed the gender pay gap and said she deserved a raise because "priests get paid better than nuns". The archdiocese of Los Angeles said in statement that the community of faith at St James was shocked and saddened by these actions and expressed gratitude to local and federal law enforcement agencies for their work in the investigation of this matter. Chief Justice John Roberts announced the opinion from the bench, noting that the teacher who brought the case was not a lay teacher. But how do we define who is a minister and who is not? "These teachers taught the Catholic faith to these kids more than the parish priest," putting them squarely within the so-called ministerial exception, he says. 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. That math, sister Mary Margaret Kreuper had taken a vow of poverty, her told... 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