A former mayor of Utica, N.Y. has admitted to stealing nearly $40,000 in donations from a scholarship fund set up to honor his late wife, federal prosecutors said Friday.
Louis LaPolla, 78, pleaded guilty in Syracuse federal court to mail fraud for soliciting and later spending almost all of the donated funds intended to benefit Utica City School District students who planned to pursue post-secondary education in health-related fields.
The guilty plea comes three months after LaPolla pleaded guilty in Oneida County Court to a misdemeanor charge of petit larceny.
In that case, LaPolla admitted to sending out invitations to a fundraising dinner for his wife’s scholarship fund using “envelopes, stamps, and mailing labels belonging to the Utica City School District,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of New York said in a news release.
He was sentenced on April 10 to 60 days of house arrest and three years probation on the petit larceny charge. He was also ordered to pay $3,100 in restitution.
LaPolla is now scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 10 for the mail fraud charges. He faces up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $1.5 million, and a term of supervised release of up to three years.
After serving as Utica mayor from 1984 to 1995 — at the time the longest mayoral term in city history — LaPolla went on to serve on the city school board for 25 years — including four years as president, from 2018 to 2022.
A 2019 special report on Utica mayors published by the Observer-Dispatch, praised LaPolla’s economic achievements, accessibility and “never-give-up attitude.”
“Louis LaPolla … practices what he preaches,” the publication wrote.
