New Jersey Man Charged With Federal Program Theft

HARRISBURG – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that on May 19, 2020, Eliseo Sierra, age 43, of New Jersey, was charged in a criminal information with embezzling over $34,000 from Lincoln Charter School in York, Pennsylvania.

According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, Sierra committed the crime in May 2014, while employed at Lincoln Charter School as a school operations manager.  During that time, the school received grants funded by the U.S Department of Education.           

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Carlo D. Marchioli is prosecuting the case.

Criminal informations are only allegations.  All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.

A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

The maximum penalty under federal law for this offense is imprisonment for ten years, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant's educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.

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