Former Utica Mayor and school board president Louis LaPolla, 79, was sentenced to three years of probation after pleading guilty in May to one count of federal mail fraud, federal officials announced Tuesday.
LaPolla confessed to soliciting funds by ail for a scholarship fund in the name of his late wife Andrea and spending nearly $40,000 of the proceeds instead of depositing the money into the scholarship fund, according to a statement sent out by United States Attorney Carla Freedman and Craig Tremaroli, special agent in charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
LaPolla’s sentence also requires him to pay $38,616 in restitution and a separate forfeiture money judgment in the same amount.
The charge could have carried a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $1.5 million.
Mail fraud charges
LaPolla was originally indicted in September 2023 on six counts of mail fraud. His plea deal required him to acknowledge and make restitution for all six counts, although he only pleaded guilty to one count.
Here’s what happened, according to prosecutors and backed by LaPolla’s allocution:
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Andrea LaPolla died on March 9, 2018.
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Her husband and others mailed out flyers asking businesses and individuals to donate to a scholarship in her memory. The scholarships were to go to Utica City School District graduates pursuing secondary education in health-related fields.
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The school board voted to have the district treasurer set up an interest-bearing account for the scholarship funds.
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Some of the donations were sent directly to LaPolla’s home as personal checks.
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The six mail fraud charges relate to six documents: four personal checks mailed to LaPolla between February 2019 and March 2022 that were not deposited in the scholarship account and were spent by LaPolla; and two flyers soliciting funds that were mailed from LaPolla’s home to two individuals in March 2022.
LaPolla has previously claimed that he faced a lot of medical debt after his wife’s death and he did not realize he couldn’t borrow money from the scholarship fund.
Other legal issues
The federal case has not been LaPolla’s only legal struggle related to his wife’s scholarship fund. He’s currently serving three years of probation for a conviction of petit larceny in Oneida County. LaPolla — who was originally indicted in November 2023 on fourth-degree grand larceny and public corruption charges — pleaded guilty to petit larceny and was sentenced on April 10 to probation, six days of domicile restriction and the payment of $3,100 in restitution.
In this case, LaPolla, at the suggestion of then-school superintendent Bruce Karam, has school staff send out flyers for his fundraising retirement dinner during work hours and using the district’s supplies and stamps.
Karam was also charged in connection to both LaPolla’s flyers and his order for district staff to mail out campaign literature for a school board candidate, also during work hours and using district supplies and postage.
He pleaded guilty to public corruption, a felony, and was sentenced on April 19 to five years probation, 250 hours of community service and payment of $12,000 in restitution. He also agreed to a consent order reducing his pension.
Karam was placed on paid administrative leave by the Utica school board in October 2022 after two district administrators filed complaints and an investigator filed a report in January 2023 stating that Karam had committed “bullying” behavior.”
The school board voted to fire him in November 2023.
LaPolla served as Utica mayor from 1984 to 1995 and on the Utica school board for 25 years with his last term spent as president. He also served as the head of Utica’s municipal housing authority.
LaPolla’s federal mail fraud case was investigated by the FBI with help from the New York State Police and the Oneida County District Attorney’s Office.
This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Former mayor, school president Louis LaPolla sentenced for mail fraud
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