Mineola, N.Y. – For years, ex-Roslyn schools chief Frank Tassone admitted, he stole millions of dollars in taxpayer money to finance everything from his breakfast bagel to European jaunts on the Concorde.
His next big journey on the taxpayers’ dime will be to prison.
Tassone, 58, of Manhattan, pleaded guilty Monday to first- and second-degree grand larceny before a Nassau County judge in a scandal that state Comptroller Alan Hevesi has called “the largest, most remarkable, most extraordinary theft” from a school system in American history.
As part of a plea bargain, the former superintendent will spend four to 12 years in prison and pay back an estimated $2 million. If convicted at trial, he could have faced 25 years.
Four other people have been charged. Prosecutors have said they expect further arrests, and Tassone will cooperate in the continuing investigation as part of his plea deal, the district attorney said.
An audit earlier this year found that $11.2 million had been pilfered between 1996 and 2004, although prosecutors have been able to link slightly less than $7 million to the current defendants.
The fifth person accused is the district’s former independent auditor, Andrew Miller, who prosecutors say helped cover up some of the pilfering.
The $2 million taken by Tassone paid for flights aboard the Concorde for vacations in England, cruises, hotel and resort accommodations, dermatology treatments, furniture, jewelry and meals. More than $1 million allegedly was stolen via ATM cash advances.
Records show that Tassone and a former school official withdrew district money from automated teller machines almost every day between February 2001 and October 2002, with Tassone taking out a monthly average of $21,747.
