Depew woman sentenced for stealing
$90,000 from hockey club
By James
Staas | News Staff Reporter
on March 24, 2014
A Depew woman who repaid the $90,000 she took from a youth hockey club and
its donors to support her gambling addiction was sentenced today to weekends in
jail for four months followed by five years’ probation and 500 hours of
community service.
State Supreme Court Justice Russell P. Buscaglia told Teresa A. Fusani,
former treasurer of the Depew Saints Hockey Club, that he had considered
sentencing her to a longer jail term, but he cited several factors that led him
to impose a shorter term at the Erie County Correctional Facility.
He said he was especially affected by a letter from a Depew swimming pool and
spa company that is aware of Fusani’s grand larceny conviction but has offered
her a job.
He also cited letters he received from her three children on her behalf,
including one from her oldest son, Michael, who is a member of the Depew School
Board.
The judge also noted her work with Jewish Family Service of Buffalo and Erie
County, which her attorney, Joel Daniels, said has helped her with her gambling
problem and may use her as a spokeswoman to persuade other people with a similar
problem to stay away from casinos.
Buscaglia said he also took into consideration her husband Frank’s brain
injury, which has prevented him from returning to his job as a lieutenant in the
Depew Police Department for nearly two years.
“But that is no excuse for gambling away all this money,” he told her.
The judge said that while the hockey club did not recommend a jail sentence,
“I feel some jail time is appropriate.”
Fusani, 49, of Canton Street, pleaded guilty in November to second-degree
grand larceny. She admitted that between July 2006 and January 2010, she
embezzled money from the hockey club while serving as its treasurer.
Assistant District Attorney Brian P. Dassero said Fusani oversaw a legitimate
hockey club bank account through HSBC Bank but also had another account at
M&T Bank, with a similar name, which no one else knew about.
Fusani also admitted that after leaving her position as club treasurer, she
sent letters to several Depew-area businesses requesting donations for the club
from January 2010 to last April and kept the money to support her gambling
habit.
She had faced a maximum prison term of five to 15 years.
Daniels, her attorney, said Fusani is among a growing number of people in the
Buffalo area addicted to gambling at local casinos.
“It’s the lure of electronic slots,” he told the judge. “Once they catch you,
it’s difficult for some to walk away.”
He noted today’s front page story in The Buffalo News on the rising gambling
problem among older people who spend their retirement money on slots and
casinos. “It’s a problem I’m afraid we’ll be facing for quite some time,” he
said.
Fusani apologized “to all the families who trusted me and who I let
down.”
She accepted responsibility for her actions, admitting she made the choice to
gamble. She also cited her decision to make full restitution to those she
deceived.U.S. Bankruptcy Court records show the couple’s finances were a
mess.
They filed jointly for bankruptcy Nov. 26, 1997, with the case
closed in March 1998. Then in May 2007, Teresa Fusani filed alone for bankruptcy
protection, citing consumer debt as the reason.
According to the 2007
bankruptcy filing, $156,920 was listed in assets, with $171,220 in liabilities.
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