Former New York schools chief admits larceny

MINEOLA, N.Y. — For years, former Roslyn schools chief Frank Tassone admitted, he stole millions of dollars in taxpayer money to finance everything from his breakfast bagel to European jaunts on the Concorde.

His next big journey on the taxpayers' dime will be to prison.

Tassone, 58, of Manhattan, pleaded guilty yesterday to first- and second-degree grand larceny in a scandal that state Comptroller Alan Hevesi has called "the largest, most remarkable, most extraordinary theft" from a school system in U.S. history.

As part of a plea bargain, Tassone will spend four to 12 years in prison and pay back an estimated $2 million. If convicted at trial, he could have faced 25 years.

As people in the courtroom booed and hissed, Tassone admitted his part in the $11.2 million embezzlement scheme, calling his crimes "mistakes," "egregious errors" and "poor judgment." But he urged the community to "remember the good I did" and forgive him.

Tassone's conviction is the first in the Roslyn criminal case. He has agreed to testify against other targets of the investigation, prosecutors said, including Stephen Signorelli, his partner of more than 30 years.

The district's former chief financial officer, Pamela Gluckin, and her niece Debra Rigano, a former business clerk, have pleaded not guilty to grand-larceny charges. Earlier this month, the district's former auditor, Andrew Miller, was charged with falsifying records.

"This is a very broad investigation," said Nassau District Attorney Denis Dillon at a news conference yesterday.

State auditors say $11.2 million was taken from Roslyn over the past decade, with more than 25 school officials, their family and friends benefiting.

The $2 million taken by Tassone paid for flights aboard the Concorde for vacations in England, cruises, hotel and resort accommodations, dermatology treatments, furniture, jewelry and meals. More than $1 million allegedly was stolen via ATM cash advances, and prosecutors said the defendants even had their dry-cleaning and cable-TV bills picked up by taxpayers.

Records show that Tassone and a former school official withdrew the district's money from ATMs almost every day between February 2001 and October 2002, with Tassone taking out a monthly average of $21,747.

The schools in Roslyn, 20 miles from Manhattan, are among the best in the state. The district, where homes frequently sell for millions, sends 95 percent of its high-school graduates to college, and SAT scores are among the nation's best.

Roslyn residents who attended yesterday's hearing said they are unlikely to forgive Tassone. Their image of him as the charming superintendent who championed innovative programs faded long ago.

"There's no way for him ever to make full and complete restitution," said School Board member Meryl Waxman Ben-Levy. "What he stole from us was much more than money. He stole the faith of the community and the trust of colleagues."