An embezzler who sold her home to pay back some of the money she stole from her Buffalo employer was ordered Thursday to also pay $300 a month in additional restitution for the next 10 years.
Janice Kaled, however, avoided a prison term at her Erie County Court sentencing.
Kaled, 53, was sentenced to five years’ probation for stealing $337,541 between January 2005 and December 2011 from Unlimited Energy Inc. of Buffalo. She pleaded guilty to second-degree grand larceny for the theft and first-degree offering a false instrument for filing for not reporting the money on her state tax return.
The net proceeds from selling her home totaled $40,527, which Kaled has already turned over to the employer. “That’s about all the money she’s got,” defense lawyer Joel L. Daniels said of the sale proceeds.
The company also received $25,000 from an insurer and $40,000 from HSBC Bank, which cashed her forged checks, said John C. Doscher, head of the Erie County District Attorney’s Special Investigations Bureau, who prosecutes embezzlers and others accused of financial crimes.
If Kaled makes all of her monthly restitution payments, that would total $36,000.
In all, the most the company can expect to recoup is $141,527 – about 42 percent of its loss.
“We certainly would have liked it to be more,” Doscher said.
But that is more than victimized companies usually get back, he said.
Erie County Judge Sheila A. DiTullio said she sought to strike a balance with her sentence, one that punishes the Lockport woman but also tries to get back money for the victimized business owner.
The judge called repaying the victim a priority and noted that Kaled sold her home to pay some restitution. “You sold your home, which was big,” DiTullio said.
Kaled now has two minimum-wage jobs, working 40 to 60 hours a week cleaning floors at one job and selling merchandise in a store at her other job.
“I give you credit for that,” DiTullio said.
DiTullio decided not to order Kaled to perform community service, saying she would rather Kaled work and earn money to keep up with the restitution payments.
Living in an apartment with her 16-year-old daughter, “she lives on a shoestring now,” Daniels said.
Kaled’s former employer attended the sentencing and also sent the judge a letter but opted not to make a victim-impact statement during the hearing.
Daniels said Kaled did not have a prior criminal record and did not gamble away the stolen money at a casino.
While the judge referred to financial problems Kaled has experienced, Daniels did not say how she spent the hundreds of thousands of dollars she stole.
“I want to say how truly sorry I am for what I have done,” Kaled said.
She said she let down her former boss. “I’m truly sorry for what I did to him and his family,” she said. “I will do whatever it takes to pay him back.”
email: plakamp@buffnews.com
Janice Kaled, however, avoided a prison term at her Erie County Court sentencing.
Kaled, 53, was sentenced to five years’ probation for stealing $337,541 between January 2005 and December 2011 from Unlimited Energy Inc. of Buffalo. She pleaded guilty to second-degree grand larceny for the theft and first-degree offering a false instrument for filing for not reporting the money on her state tax return.
The net proceeds from selling her home totaled $40,527, which Kaled has already turned over to the employer. “That’s about all the money she’s got,” defense lawyer Joel L. Daniels said of the sale proceeds.
The company also received $25,000 from an insurer and $40,000 from HSBC Bank, which cashed her forged checks, said John C. Doscher, head of the Erie County District Attorney’s Special Investigations Bureau, who prosecutes embezzlers and others accused of financial crimes.
If Kaled makes all of her monthly restitution payments, that would total $36,000.
In all, the most the company can expect to recoup is $141,527 – about 42 percent of its loss.
“We certainly would have liked it to be more,” Doscher said.
But that is more than victimized companies usually get back, he said.
Erie County Judge Sheila A. DiTullio said she sought to strike a balance with her sentence, one that punishes the Lockport woman but also tries to get back money for the victimized business owner.
The judge called repaying the victim a priority and noted that Kaled sold her home to pay some restitution. “You sold your home, which was big,” DiTullio said.
Kaled now has two minimum-wage jobs, working 40 to 60 hours a week cleaning floors at one job and selling merchandise in a store at her other job.
“I give you credit for that,” DiTullio said.
DiTullio decided not to order Kaled to perform community service, saying she would rather Kaled work and earn money to keep up with the restitution payments.
Living in an apartment with her 16-year-old daughter, “she lives on a shoestring now,” Daniels said.
Kaled’s former employer attended the sentencing and also sent the judge a letter but opted not to make a victim-impact statement during the hearing.
Daniels said Kaled did not have a prior criminal record and did not gamble away the stolen money at a casino.
While the judge referred to financial problems Kaled has experienced, Daniels did not say how she spent the hundreds of thousands of dollars she stole.
“I want to say how truly sorry I am for what I have done,” Kaled said.
She said she let down her former boss. “I’m truly sorry for what I did to him and his family,” she said. “I will do whatever it takes to pay him back.”
email: plakamp@buffnews.com