Former Phila. Charter School Head Sentenced For Persistent Embezzlement
By Tony Hanson
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A disgraced former charter school president was sentenced today to three years in prison. He had worked out a deal for a sentence of about two years, but authorities say he couldn't keep his hands off other people's money.
Federal prosecutor Louis Lappen told the court that the conduct of Masai Skief, former president of Harambee Institute Charter School, in northwest Philadelphia, was reprehensible: he stole nearly $90,000 that was supposed to be used for educating schoolchildren, even putting some of the money into his personal "iDream" account.
And he kept stealing, even as he was negotiating his plea deal with the government. And he still wasn't done: he took more money after pleading guilty.
""He is basically announcing to the world, 'Of course I haven't accepted responsibility for this because I am walking out of court and doing it again,' " Lappen says.
And now Skief has been sentenced to an extra year in prison.