In this day and age with so many children going hungry and so many people in dire straights I find it amazing that someone who was actually in charge of a program like WIC would take advantage of it to satisfy their own greed.
Carol Peirce, 53, of Port St. Lucie, Fla. was sentenced by a judge Tuesday to 7 years 3 months in prison for stealing more than $200,000 in funds from a federal nutrition program she oversaw in NYC. She was also ordered to forfeit $100,000.
According to the Associated Press while overseeing the program Pierce used her program’s credit card to buy items and services including air fare, car rentals, a stained glass ceiling lamp, an ice cream maker, silver plates, electronics, and house cleaning services.
And that’s not all. The government has said that Pierce also arranged through a secret kickback scheme with a company owned by her secretary to have her New Jersey home cleaned two times per week with funds from the program.
The judge in the case praised Peirce for pioneering work that advanced the federal Women, Infants, and Children Program at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. She directed that program from 1990 through August 2005, before she moved to Florida.
But he said her good deeds could not compensate for stealing from a program that provides nutritious foods and nutritional counseling to poor mothers, expectant mothers, infants and young children. “No amount of service can justify the betrayal of trust that was exhibited here,” he said.
He said her crimes took money away from those who needed it most. About half of all babies born in the United States receive assistance from the program.
You can read the original article on Forbes.com
Wow, how sad!