A former Sag Harbor Elementary School PTA vice president was sentenced Tuesday to five years of probation and ordered to repay $14,487 after admitting she stole money from the organization, Suffolk County prosecutors said.
Hope Livingston, 50, of Sag Harbor, pleaded guilty in August to third-degree grand larceny, a felony, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.
Read our previous coverage of the crime here.
Prosecutors said Livingston served as the PTA’s co-treasurer from July 2021 through June 2022 and as vice president from July 2022 through June 2024. During that period, she had access to a PTA debit card that was supposed to be used only for organization-related purchases.
When the PTA bank account was turned over to new board members in September 2024, officials discovered Livingston had used organization funds for personal expenses, prosecutors said.
The purchases included transactions at Costco, Amazon, Target and Lululemon, as well as local Sag Harbor businesses. Prosecutors said Livingston also made numerous cash withdrawals directly from the PTA account.
Livingston pleaded guilty Aug. 4 before Acting Supreme Court Justice Anthony S. Senft.
She was sentenced Oct. 6 to five years of probation and ordered to pay $14,487 in restitution to the Sag Harbor Elementary School PTA.
“Restitution is an important part of accountability, particularly when the money stolen was entrusted to a parent teacher association to benefit students and the school community,” Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney said.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Alyssa Costantino of the Public Corruption Bureau. The investigation was conducted by the district attorney’s Public Corruption Squad with assistance from the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office.
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