An 80-year-old nun has turned out to be something of a sinner.
Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper was sentenced to prison on Monday, February 7, after a California court found her guilty of stealing over $835,000 from an elementary school to pay off gambling debts.
According to court documents, Kreuper diverted tuition fees and donations into a savings account whilst working as the principal of St. James Catholic School in Torrance, Los Angeles between 2008 and 2018.
Per ABC7, she then used the savings to fund gambling splurges and casino trips.
Court documents stated that the money was used to pay off "large gambling expenses incurred at casinos and certain credit card charges."
In total, the errant nun confessed to siphoning off $835,000 to fund her gambling during her tenure at the LA school.
The US attorney's office went on to explain how Kreuper had falsified monthly and annual reports in an attempt to disguise her "fraudulent conduct."
She even ordered her deputies at St. James' School to alter and destroy financial records when the institution was being audited so that no trace of her thieving would be unearthed.
The sister eventually came clean in July last year, when she plead guilty to one count of wire fraud and one of money laundering.
Judge Otis D. Wright II sentenced her to one year in prison during a virtual meeting on Monday, as well as ordering the former principal to pay back $825,338 in restitution.
Prosecutors had recommended a more severe sentence of 24 months in prison and three years of supervised release, ABC7 reports.
Meanwhile, Kreuper's defense argued that she suffered "from mental illness that clouded her judgment and caused her to do something that she otherwise would not have done".
According to the Associated Press, a repentant Kreuper addressed the court via video link.
"I have sinned, I've broken the law and I have no excuses," said the nun.
"My actions were in violation of my vows, my commandments, the law and, above all, the sacred trust that so many had placed in me," she told the court, adding: "I was wrong and I'm profoundly sorry for the pain and suffering I've caused so many people."
