New York Woman Pleads Guilty To Embezzling $617K - Blames Gambling Habit

Sharon Oczkowski, 58, of Whitesboro, New York, pleaded guilty today to charges she embezzled $617,000 from Eastern Star Home & Campus where she had been employed as a bookkeeper.  According to authorities, over a period of at least 4 years, from 2006 - 2010, Oczkowski wrote "hundreds" of checks for her own benefit, cashing them with a resident's account.  Oczkowski, who was originally charged last December, is reported to have spent the money at the Turning Stone Resort Casino.  She faces up to 13 1/2 years in prison, plus restitution upon sentencing, scheduled for September 13, 2011.

Read the story here, here and here.

Update (9/13/11): Oczkowski was sentenced to 4 1/2 to 13 1/2 years in prison.