Woman accused of embezzlement pays back stolen PTO funds
DANBURY — Five felony charges against a woman accused of embezzling money from a Brookfield PTO will be dismissed if she successfully completes an accelerated rehabilitation program.
Monica Bevilacqua, 39, of Brookfield, was granted permission on Monday to enter the two-year, pretrial intervention program.
Dressed in a gray top and black skirt, Bevilacqua appeared tired at her afternoon hearing at Danbury Superior Court.
“My client has said she’s emotionally pretty spent,” said her attorney, Gene Zingaro.
Bevilacqua was charged with embezzling about $12,700 from a Brookfield parent-teacher organization over two years.
After pleading not guilty to five felony counts brought against her, she decided to apply for accelerated rehabilitation to avoid a possible prison term. She also offered to pay full restitution.
The prosecution initially objected to Bevilacqua doing the program, said Assistant State’s Attorney Warren Murray, but “given the fact that she has not been in trouble before and she’s done a good job at making restitution,” it withdrew its objection.
Zingaro said the prosecution and defense decided that Bevilacqua would pay a total of $20,000 to the PTO —
$12,742.37 for the money embezzled and a charitable contribution of
$7,257.63 to help make the PTO “truly whole.”
“That number itself represents what we think is the best guess, if you will, of what’s fair — not just to the PTO, but to my client as well,” Zingaro said.
PTO President Joan Spector received the $20,000 in checks on behalf of the organization at the end of the Bevilacqua’s hearing.
Bevilacqua was accused of taking money from the Center Elementary School PTO’s account through a series of checks and more than 180 personal orders charged to the organization’s credit card.
She was charged with one count of second-degree larceny, one count of illegal use of a credit card and three counts of second-degree forgery.
Police began investigating last August after concerns were raised about irregularities in the PTO’s financial records.
According to police, Bevilacqua, who served as the PTO’s treasurer from November 2016 to July 2018, wrote 11 checks to herself or to “cash,” and forged another person’s signature on three of them.
Police also found that she had used the PTO’s credit card to make 139 Amazon purchases, 24 DoorDash purchases and 19 other merchant purchases.
Zingaro said Bevilacqua lost a “very lucrative position” as a result of what happened. Bevilacqua had been the director of Head Start of Northern Fairfield County in Danbury
After “considering the entire picture,” Judge Ronald Kowalski granted the program.
“The court finds the offense not so serious that the defendant should be denied the benefit of the program,” he said.
Not only did Bevilacqua already complete hundreds of hours of community service and seek out counseling and treatment, Kowalski said, but she also “took to heart” the court’s finding about making the PTO whole with respect to the charitable contribution.
The court found it a “real show of good faith” for Bevilacqua to make the $20,000 combination payment of restitution and charitable contribution, Kowalski said.
He said he also found Bevilacqua “not likely to offend again in the future.”
Accelerated pretrial rehabilitation is a diversionary program for people charged with crimes and motor vehicle violations deemed not serious by the courts, but that can still carry a prison term. If a defendant successfully completes accelerated rehabilitation, the court will dismiss charges.
Kowalski granted Bevilacqua’s request under several conditions, including payment of the restitution and charitable contribution, no arrests during the duration of the two-year program and 156 more hours of community service.
She must also continue undergoing counseling and treatment, Kowalski said, and she is prohibited from having a job that involves handling money.
If she successfully completes the program, the charges against her will be dismissed.