A trip to Disney World can be expensive, and some people are willing to do ANYTHING to pay for their trip. In the past, we’ve seen a woman steal from her church and New York City employees who stole from homeless children, but rarely do those people spend years in prison for their crimes.
However, none of those stories took money from the federal government to pay for their trips. Now we know just how angry the Feds get when someone takes from them.
A Texas man was sentenced to two years in federal prison after he stole $340,000 from one of the poorest school districts in the state. However, because the funds came from the federal government, he was given 24 months in federal prison for his crimes.
Brandon Delane Looney worked as the business manager for the Trinidad Independent School District. While working for the district from 2017 to 2023, Looney embezzled the funds, causing financial hardships at one of the poorest school districts in the state.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said
Looney used the stolen funds to purchase personal trips to Walt Disney World and on spending sprees at the Disney Store. Trinidad ISD is one of the poorest school districts in Texas and suffered adverse financial consequences as a result of Looney’s theft.
U.S. law makes it a Federal crime to steal from any entity that receives more than $10,000 a year from the government. Looney could have received up to 20 years in prison for his crimes.
Looney is working with the Financial Litigation Unit to liquidate his assets to repay the school district. He was forced to sell his home and has already paid the district $200,000. The remainder of the missing money will be returned to the district over the next 20 years.
The Trinidad Independent School District is located southeast of Dallas. According to the Texas Tribune, the district has 156, and 30 percent of those students are “at risk” of dropping out. The average teacher salary is around $49,000, $12,000 less than the average in Texas.
While Looney will eventually make the district a hole, losing that much money in such a short period caused severe damage that cannot be undone. But Looney got to go to Disney World.
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