Nun escapes prison term for embezzling $850,000 from Catholic college

November 14, 2011

A New York judge has decided against a prison sentence for a nun who pleaded guilty to stealing $850,000 from a Catholic school where she was a finance official.

Sister Marie Thornton admitted embezzling the funds from Iona College, explaining that she used the money to sustain a gambling habit. But Iona did not demand financial restitution, and Judge Kimba Wood accepted a defense recommendation that Sister Thornton be spared a possible 3-year prison term. She will perform community service instead.

The nun’s religious community has taken a stricter approach. The New York Post reports that Sister Thornton is living in virtual solitary confinement in a Philadelphia convent.

 

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Further information:

• Twisted sister in nun jail (New York Post)
• Nun pleads guilty to embezzling $850,000 from Catholic college (CWN, 3/10)