Former Monroe PTO Treasurer Avoids Jail Time in Embezzlement Case

MONROE, CT — Much to the chagrin of a large crowd of angry Monroe parents, the former treasurer of the Stepney PTO avoided jail time for stealing more than $45,000 from the organization during Friday’s sentencing at Bridgeport Superior Court, according to the Connecticut Post.

Daniel Tepfer of the Post reports Sarah Chiarelli, 37, received an 8-year suspended sentence with five years’ probation and was also ordered to perform 200 hours of community service.

While he sympathized with the parents’ anger, Superior Court Judge Robert Devlin said during the sentencing that he couldn’t see sending the mother of three to a lengthy prison term considering she recently made full restitution, according to Tepfer.

Chiarelli pleaded no contest to one count of first-degree larceny in November.

Chiarelli was arrested in May of 2015 after a lengthy investigation into the alleged embezzlement of funds from the Stepney Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) banking accounts.

The Monroe Police Detective Division’s investigation revealed that Chiarelli was the only individual to have access to the PTO banking accounts.

According to police, Chiarelli was the PTO Treasurer when the embezzlements occurred and was also the past president of the PTO. During the course of executing a search and seizure warrant at her residence in Monroe, she admitted to misappropriating PTO funds for her own use but substantially underestimated the dollar amount she embezzled, police said.

An audit of the banking accounts revealed that Chiarelli allegedly made a total of 226 illegitimate transactions totaling more than $30,000 embezzled for her personal use. Police say Chiarelli used these funds to pay for household expenses, a Disney World vacation, over $14,000 in cash withdrawals and close to $10,000 in checks, some made out to herself and deposited into her personal banking account.

Read more from Friday’s sentencing, including comments from angry parents, at the Connecticut Post here.

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