sister mary margaret kreupersister mary margaret kreuper

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.. Get the news that matters most delivered directly to your inbox. They dont want you to see this Big Tech does its best to limit what news you see. (RELATED: Nuns Allegedly Stole Catholic School Funds For Years: Report). He said he could not bring himself to judge Kreuper solely on "the worst thing that she's done in her life", the LA Times said. St.James Catholic School caught embezzling $500K for personal use, including gambling as church declines to press charges. Associate Editor at BroBible covering all five major sports and every niche sport imaginable, found primarily in the college space. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, of Los Angeles, was sentenced Monday to one year and one day for fraud and money laundering charges. On Monday night, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles told parents and alumni at a meeting that Sisters Mary Margaret Kreuper and Lana Chang, described as best friends, took around $500,000 from St . LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) Mary Margaret Kreuper, a now-retired nun who was the principal of St. James Catholic School in Torrance, has agreed to plead guilty to fraud and money laundering charges. 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. The 79-year-old former nun pleaded guilty to federal charges for stealing more than $800,000 from St. James Catholic School earlier this month. Trust shouldnt be broken like that., Others, such as Kevin Kearns, whose son had gone to the school, said the nun had put the students and parents above everything else., The church tells us to forgive those who have trespassed against us, Kearns said. A Los Angeles nun recently pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $800,000. "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. We do know that they had a pattern of going on trips. The embezzlement helped to fuel her gambling habit. 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. At the heart of this dispute is the First Amendment ban on government establishment of religion and the separation of church and state. Sister Mary Margaret and Sister Lana have expressed to me and asked that I convey to you, the deep remorse they each feel for their actions and ask for your forgiveness and prayers, Meyers wrote in a letter to parents on Nov. 28. In total, across a period of 10 years, Kreuper siphoned $835,339 from the school's accounts. The school soon had a change of heart following pushback. Officials pointed out that Kreuper had taken a vow of poverty as a nun. Kreuper admitted embezzling about $835,000 (616,000) in donations, tuition and fee money between 2008 and 2018. Sister Mary Margaret was making bank (very illegally) through laundering and threw everyone off of the scent by reminding them of her vow of poverty. We do know that they had a pattern of going on trips, we do know they had a pattern of going to casinos, and the reality is, they used the account as their personal account, Marge Graf, an attorney representing St. James, told a group of parents at a meeting in 2018. Her husband, Darryl Biel, remembers that day vividly. Kreuper, who took vows of poverty at age 18 and spent 59 years in the religious order, said in her plea agreement that she had begun diverting money from the schools tuition and donation account to a savings account that funded the living expenses of the nuns who worked at the school and then used some of the money herself. Told one parent, We were an ATM, and people know it and they wont ask for justice., The embezzlement and the churchs seeming reluctance to act has led to some locals saying the scandal underscores a failure of church leadership- while also noting that only a police investigation can be trusted.. For the second time in as many weeks, the U.S. Supreme Court is tackling a major religion case. The exception extends to religiously affiliated institutions when they fire employees who serve in a religious capacity akin to that of a minister. Let us pray for our school families and for Sister Mary Margaret and Sister Lana, the letter added. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, the retired principal of St. James Catholic School in California, has been sentenced to one year and a day in prison on charges of money laundering and federal wire. The fraud was discovered after an internal investigation at the end of the same year. These nuns took a vow of poverty and said, Oh no, weve got a rich uncle, parent Jack Alexander said. According to Newstalk.com, the school indicated in a letter to parents at the time that they did not want to pursue criminal charges against the duo, after they both expressed "desire and inten[t] to make complete restitution to St. James School.". Kreuper has agreed to plead guilty to the charges in a deal with prosecutors, the US Attorney's Office of California said in a statement. Chief Justice John Roberts announced the opinion from the bench, noting that the teacher who brought the case was not a lay teacher. Kreuper pleaded guilty last July. During his sentencing, Wright, a 2007 appointee under President George W. Bush, praised Kreuper for her tenure as one heck of a teacher at the school. Rassbach will tell the Supreme Court that not everyone who works at a religious school or institution is exempt from these laws. When first confronted, Mr Kumar said, the nun claimed she "did it in part because she believes priests get paid better than nuns". Rather, he said, she is religiously trained and a commissioned minister of the church. Kreuper is due in court on 1 July and faces up to 40 years in federal prison. James School.. However, the church chose not to press charges against the two nuns. The Daily Caller | 1775 Eye Street NW | Suite 1150-290 | Washington, DC 20006. This was a manifestation of greed, Kumar said, adding that the nun had abused the trust of the community. "Millions of people across the country who never thought or understood themselves to be leaders of the faith" would now "magically have no employment protections," he says. Pic: St James Catholic School. Advice for the relationships in your life and how to boost your own well-being. 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. Kumar said the nuns instruction to the auditors sparked suspicion, and they reported the incident to Msgr. The money she stole was used to pay off credit card charges and "large gambling expenses incurred at casinos", the US attorney's office said. The 80-year-old nun also was ordered to pay a total of. At least, thats where they caught her. A federal judge sentenced Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, a nun and former Catholic school principal, to a year in prison for embezzling more than $835,000 from the school she ran to fund a more secular lifestyle including gambling trips. 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. 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, Ive broken the law and I have no excuses, Kreuper said at the sentencing over Zoom. You can be proud of that, he said. This article was published more than1 year ago. There is another, and rather rich, twist to one of the cases before the court Monday. The 80-year-old nun pleaded for mercy after stealing $835,339 from an elementary Catholic school to fund her gambling addiction.. Maryland man, 52, sues bar over ban cause he was old Missouri daughter secretly donates kidney to ailing dad. Since 2014, The Marshall Project has been curating some of the best criminal justice reporting from around the web. A now-retired nun has pleaded guilty to stealing more than $800,000 from the St. James Catholic School in Torrance, California, from 2008 to 2018, the last decade of her 28-year tenure as principal of the institution. But she appreciates the outpouring of support shes received from people who have decided that rather to judge her on these actions toward the end of her career and life, theyve taken her whole life into consideration.. His . I, for one, absolutely love this move. His findings unraveled the entire scheme and, eventually, federal charges were levied against Sister Mary Margaret. 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. When this was going on, she was not nearly as old. Recap: Court Weighs Whether Religious Schools Can Fire Lay Workers, Listen Live: Supreme Court Arguments Schedule, Top 5 Moments From The Supreme Court's 1st Week Of Livestreaming Arguments, Fervor Vs Compromise At Supreme Court Birth Control Arguments, Supreme Court Arguments A Tech Success, But Format Strangles Usual Give-And-Take, Supreme Court Considers Anti-Prostitution Pledge In HIV/AIDS Funding Case. By signing up to the Blaze News newsletter you agree to receive electronic communications from Blaze Media that may sometimes include advertisements or sponsored content. Local 10 Newsreported Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper and Sister Lana Chang of St.James Catholic School(both retiring earlier this year) using money from the schools funds to live a life of luxury over the last ten years. She became principal at St. James Catholic School, about 20 miles outside downtown Los Angeles, in 1990. The judge settled on a prison sentence of one year and a day and also ordered Kreuper to pay back the money she had stolen from the school. Claiming mental illness at her age is a play for probation or the ability to serve her sentence at home. But the court's eventual decision could reach beyond teachers, affecting the lives of millions of other employees who work for religiously affiliated institutions. All rights reserved. Southern California authorities have revealed two nuns allegedly embezzling up to $500K which was parlayed into gambling jaunts in Las Vegas. According to prosecutors, Kreuper had stolen whats estimated to have been the tuition for 14 students at the K-8 school in funds that were intended to further the students education, not fund [Kreupers] lifestyle., When confronted, the defendant admitted to stealing the money, Kumar said. By Megan Carpentier. On. 2023 Blaze Media LLC. I wanted them to see me," he says "and I just pray that the justices see the right way.". Sister Mary is not full of grace. Margaret Mary Kreuper and Sister Lana Chang were accused of embezzling tuition, fees, and donations made in favor of St. James Catholic School to fund their gambling trips (Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet) Kreuper is also accused of directing St. James School employees to alter and destroy financial records during a school audit. Kreuper was 18 years old when she took her vow of poverty, according to her lawyers, and spent the next 59 years of her life dedicated to the church. 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.". She claimed that she was fired after she told her superior, Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Sister Mary Margaret became a nun when she turned 18 in 1960 and took a vow of poverty. The tuition checks and funds sent to St. James Catholic School between 2008 and 2018 that were stolen by Kreuper equaled the tuition of 14 different students per year, prosecutors said. A spokesperson with St. James did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. 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