Former Suffolk County Red Cross Employee to be Sentenced Wednesday for Embezzlement in Riverhead
(Long Island, NY) A former American Red Cross employee who stole nearly $275,000 from the organization will be sentenced to up to nine years in prison tomorrow (Wednesday, February 27) in Suffolk County court in Riverhead., District Attorney Thomas Spota announced Tuesday.
Deborah Leggio, 50, used the Red Cross chapter’s debit card to make ATM cash withdrawals, “sometimes as often as every couple of days” from April 2005 to November 2009, DA Spota said. “She was a signatory to the operating account, and without permission or authority, she obtained an ATM debit card in her name linked to the account.”
The investigation by the district attorney’s Economic Crime Bureau found evidence Leggio withdrew $274,301 over the four and one-half year period.
The defendant, who previously lived in Coram before moving to California in 2010, was convicted of one count of grand larceny in the second degree and an offering a false instrument for filing charge related to tax evasion.
“The defendant will make restitution to the American Red Cross and to the NY State Tax Office for $25, 142,” DA Spota said.
Leggio began working for the Red Cross on Horse Block Road in Yaphank in 2002.
Suffolk County Judge Richard Ambro will call the court calendar at 9:30 am.
Be advised that a charge is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
