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Former Njcu production manager from Rochelle Park gets 3 years for stealing $87,587 from box office

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: A Rochelle Park woman was sentenced to three years in state prison today for embezzling $87,587 in box office receipts over the course of nine years while she was the production manager for the Music, Dance and Theater Department at New Jersey City University.

Photo Credit: Cliffview Pilot File Photo

Kathleen Peet (formerly Sarmiento), 37, still owes $53,587 in restitution to the university after previously paying $34,000.

She also is permanently barred from public employment.

Peet pleaded guilty in Jersey City to a second-degree theft charge in November.

Acting N.J. Attorney General John Hoffman said the box office returns “should have been a point of pride for Peet as production manager, and she should have carefully guarded them for the sake of the students in her department.

“Instead, she betrayed those students by selfishly stealing what they earned for the university through their talent and hard work.”

Prosecutors said Peet kept the money in a secure location before making deposits in the bursar’s office once or twice a semester.

After noticing a shortfall, university officials conducted an internal audit that showed $60,000 missing from 2008 through 2013.

They suspended her without pay in October 2013 and she resigned the following month.

An investigation by the Division of Criminal Justice found additional thefts prior to 2008 that brought the total to $87,587.

Detective Richard Lane and Deputy Attorney General Heather V. Taylor conducted the investigation, and Deputy Attorneys General Cynthia Vazquez and Jane Khodarkovsky the prosecution.

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