Retired postal carrier sentenced to prison for $400,000 embezzlement

Source: The Buffalo News, N.自存倉Y.Oct. 04--A retired postal carrier who embezzled $400,000 from an elderly man he befriended on his route was sentenced today to one to three years in prison and ordered to make restitution.Erie County Judge Michael A. D'Amico gave the minimum sentence to Peter Saraceno, 63, of West Seneca, who had pleaded guilty to second-degree grand larceny. Saraceno had faced up to 15 years in prison.Saraceno had befriended the 78-year-old man, a fellow veteran, helping him move into a better house, running errands for him and washing his clothes.But Saraceno also embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from him over the last several years, draining his life savings to finance a gambling habit, according to Erie County District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III.Assistant District Attorney Candace K. Vogel noted at the sentencing hearing that Saraceno blamed the embezzlement on post-traumatic stress disorder, a condition she said does not include stealing."It's disgusting that he blames it on anything but his greed," Vogel said.She noted that the victim is 100 percent disabled and confined to the Veterans Hospital in Batavia.Sam Davis, Saraceno's attorney, said his client did not blame his conduct totally on PTSD. He said the PTSD led to his gambling in an attempt at self-medication.He said his client's PTSD resulted from his exposure to Agent Orange when he was on a military base in the 1960s.He said Saraceno has refinanced his home and had a $20,000 payment for the victim and will put his Social Security payments toward restitution of $495 a month.Saraceno apologized to the victim and Saraceno's family. He said he would dedicate his life to making things better for both.D'Amico said letters from Saraceno's family and friends appealed for leniency. The judge said he saw a man with a dual personality, one who does nice things for people but amini storageso embezzled $400,000 from an elderly man."I see two people: a guy who helps others but likes to help himself," he said.He also said that not all the money went to the casino."You had a pretty good lifestyle," the judge told the defendant.The judge said he is not an expert in Agent Orange and PTSD but questioned whether Saraceno's service at bases in Georgia and Germany caused the disease.He also questioned his plan to make restitution, saying that with the $20,000 and $495 monthly payments, it would take 63 years to reimburse the 78-year-old victim, who would not be around to receive it.The relationship between the mail carrier and his customer dates at least 20 years to when the victim was a stop on Saraceno's route in the Bailey-Delavan neighborhood, Sedita said."He delivers the mail and starts to strike up a relationship with him," Sedita said. "The victim becomes more and more dependent on this guy and starts to trust him."The friendship grew to the point where Saraceno eventually became a joint account holder on one of the victim's bank accounts, said Vogel, who prosecutes financial elder abuse.Saraceno made ATM withdrawals, wrote checks to himself and made wire transfers over a period between 2006 and February of this year, the prosecutors said.He admitted spending the money for casino gambling, prosecutors added.In fact, statements made by Saraceno to authorities indicate he felt he was owed for all the help he gave the man over the years."It's financial rape," Sedita said, "and it's becoming more and more prevalent."As more people live longer and the region's population ages, the elderly -- and their life savings -- are becoming more of a target, Sedita said.email: jstaas@buffnews.comCopyright: ___ (c)2013 The Buffalo News (Buffalo, N.Y.) Visit The Buffalo News (Buffalo, N.Y.) at .buffalonews.com Distributed by MCT Information Services儲存