Former Avila Controller Sentenced to 41 Months
Stole More Than $1.5 Million from Local Housing Corporation

ALBANY, NY—The former controller for Avila, William Sorriento, 53, of Mechanicville, New York, was sentenced today to 41 months of imprisonment and ordered to pay approximately $1.5 million of restitution and forfeiture by United States District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino, announced United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian and Special Agent in Charge Clifford C. Holly of the Albany Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Sorriento was also sentenced to three years of supervised release. The sentencing followed Sorriento’s June 28, 2012 guilty plea.

From May 2005 through August 2011, William Sorriento worked as the controller for the Teresian House Housing Corporation, doing business as Avila (“Avila”). In June 2009, the Alchester Group LLC assumed management of and day-to-day responsibility for Avila through a consulting agreement, and, from that point on, Sorriento reported to the Alchester Group LLC. As part of his duties, Sorriento prepared checks, reconciled monthly bank statements, and created monthly financial reports. Sorriento was not an authorized signatory for checks.

Between September 30, 2010 and May 13, 2011, Sorriento stole $1,582,281 from Avila’s checking account by writing checks to himself and others. After forging any necessary signatures, Sorriento deposited the money into his personal bank account and used the money to gamble and trade options. For example, on February 24, 2011, he wired $95,000 from his Citizens Bank account in Clifton Park, New York, to optionsXpress in Chicago, Illinois. Sorriento also created false entries in the ledger to conceal his theft.

The investigation was conducted by the Albany Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The United States was represented in this prosecution by Assistant United States Attorney Elizabeth C. Coombe.