Syracuse Woman Sentenced for Stealing from Retirement System

By David Hammond
Partner

Syracuse resident Kathleen Prince was sentenced today in Onondaga County Court for stealing more than $29,000 from the New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS), marking the end of a joint investigation by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli and Onondaga County District Attorney William J. Fitzpatrick.

Prince, who was arrested in September 2011, pleaded guilty on January 20 to fourth-degree grand larceny and received five years probation and was ordered to pay full restitution of $29,067.

“My office is vigorously working to track down individuals who defraud the retirement system,” DiNapoli said. “My investigators and Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick’s office used our collective resources to ensure that justice was done and this wrongdoing was punished.”

Kathleen Prince admitted to inappropriately cashing the retirement checks of her late father, Lewis Klein, for more than a decade. Prince’s mother, Mary Klein, was the beneficiary of Lewis Klein’s pension. After Mary Klein died in 1997, Prince forged her mother’s name and continued to cash the retirement checks.

DiNapoli’s office referred the case to Onondaga County District Attorney William J. Fitzpatrick. The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Matthew Dotzler. The restitution will be collected by the Onondaga County Probation Department during the course of the probationary period and then forwarded to NYSLRS.

DiNapoli encourages the public to help fight against fraud and abuse. New Yorkers can report allegations of fraud, corruption and abuse of taxpayer money by: calling the Comptroller’s toll-free fraud hotline at 1-888-672-4555; filing a complaint online at investigations@osc.state.ny.us; or mailing a complaint to: Office of the State Comptroller Investigations Unit, 110 State Street, 14th floor, Albany, NY 12236.

This article was originally released online.

About the Author
David is a former military prosecutor and defense lawyer with over a decade of experience fighting for service members and their families. He served nine years and two combat tours as an active duty US Army officer, then joined the Reserves and settled down in Syracuse to be near family. Now representing people across Central New York charged with serious felonies, misdemeanors, DWIs, and traffic offenses, he puts the same level of commitment into his civilian law practice. If you have any questions regarding this article, you can contact David here.