Former Tarrytown School Secretary Enters Plea In $10K Theft

TARRYTOWN, NY — The former school secretary accused of stealing from her school district entered a plea Thursday. Westchester County District Attorney Anthony A. Scarpino, Jr. said that Carol Ressa, 53, of Lake Peekskill, has pleaded guilty to third-degree grand larceny as a public corruption crime, felony. Ressa was a long-time employee of the Tarrytown Union Free School District and most recently worked as a secretary at the Sleepy Hollow Middle School.

Scarpino said, between October 2011 and March 2017, Ressa used her position as a public employee to steal thousands of dollars from the Tarrytown Union Free School District. In addition to stealing unauthorized checks drawn from a school district bank account and made them payable to herself, the defendant also stole multiple checks and money orders which had been provided to the district by middle school students and their families in order to pay for various student activities.

Those included class trips, yearbooks and even school lunches. After stealing these various checks and money orders payments, Ressa admitted to depositing the stolen district funds into her own personal bank accounts for her own personal use.

As a result of this scheme, she stole more than $10,000 from the school district.

Ressa is scheduled to be sentenced May 9, 2018.

According to the terms of her plea agreement, she must pay restitution to the school district and will be sentenced to five years probation.

Photo caption: Carol Ressa. Photo credit: Westchester County District Attorney's Office.