Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Attention would-be thieves

You might say Carol Ackley rolled the dice. It was not the first time. It also was not the first time she lost – big time.

Ackley is the former Ridley School District bookkeeper who admitted systematically looting the school coffers of more than $570,000.

Ackley painted herself as a victim of a gambling addition, unable to avoid the lure of casinos, from Atlantic City to Vegas, with Harrah’s Chester thrown in for good measure.

It’s easy to feel sympathetic for such actions. That’s was Ackley was gambling on again yesterday as she appeared in a Delaware County courtroom to be sentenced.

She was betting on having a sympathetic ear in Judge James Nilon. She lost again.

Kudos to both Assistant District Attorney Greg Hurchalla, who handled the prosecution, and Judge Nilon.

Hurchalla correctly belittled Ackley’s defense, asking a simple – but correct – question. What ever happened to personal accountability?

Judge Nilon also was having little of Ackley’s plight. Her threw the book at her, sentencing her to four to 20 years in state prison for her spree, which came courtesy of Ridley School District taxpayers.

Good for them. We hope it serves as a solid warning to what is something of a recent spree, white collar workers sticking their hand into their employer’s till to fund their own personal lavish lifestyles.

Ackley says she lost almost all the money she ripped off from the district in casinos.

She lost again yesterday. Big Time.

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