A former Sag Harbor Elementary School PTA vice president pleaded guilty Tuesday to stealing more than $10,000 from the organization and will be required to repay $14,487.
Hope Livingston, 50, of Sag Harbor, pleaded guilty Aug. 4 to third-degree grand larceny, a Class D felony, before Acting Supreme Court Justice Anthony S. Senft, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney.
Livingston served as the PTA’s co-treasurer from July 2021 through June 2022. She then served as vice president from July 2022 through June 2024.
Prosecutors said Livingston had access to the PTA’s bank account through a debit card that was supposed to be used only for organization-related expenses.
The unauthorized spending was discovered in September 2024, when control of the bank account was transferred to new PTA board members, according to the investigation.
Livingston used PTA funds for personal purchases at Costco, Amazon, Target, Lululemon and several businesses in the Sag Harbor area, prosecutors said. She also made numerous cash withdrawals from the account.
Tierney described the theft as a betrayal of the school’s children and community and said his office would continue prosecuting corruption cases.
Livingston is scheduled to return to court Oct. 6. She is expected to be sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to pay $14,487 in restitution to the Sag Harbor Elementary School PTA.
She is represented by Edward D. Burke Jr.
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 Deputy Sheriff Sgt. Matthew Matz.
Photo: SCDA
