Utica, N.Y. — A former Utica schools superintendent Friday was ordered to pay $161,549 and sentenced to five years of probation for using taxpayer money to support school board election campaigns.
Oneida County Court Judge Michael Dwyer ordered Bruce Karam, 62, to pay $11,549 in restitution and $150,000 to the Utica City School District by May 17, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said in a news release.
The $150,000 represents his pension earnings from the date he misused taxpayer money until he was fired. He was also ordered to complete 250 hours of community service.
Karam served as the district’s superintendent from 2011 until he was placed on leave in October 2022. He was charged in November.
The city school district in a statement said the money Karam was ordered to pay “will be directed back towards educating our students — those from whom these resources were unjustly diverted. The Utica City School District will utilize these funds to directly support and enhance learning opportunities for our students in need.”
Throughout these proceedings, our district has faced significant financial burdens. The recovery of these funds is a crucial step towards alleviating some of the financial pressures and reinvesting in our educational mission.
Karam pleaded guilty in March to public corruption. He admitted to using school-owned supplies and postage during work hours to send election mailers that supported certain school board candidates.
He also used school resources to send invitations for a non-school fundraiser for a charity run by former Mayor Louis LaPolla, who was the school board president from 2018 to 2022, prosecutors said.
Fundraiser flyers for the charity were inserted by school district employees during working hours in envelopes the district paid for and were mailed using the district’s stamps. LaPolla was aware that school resources were being used on his behalf, according to authorities.
Almost $15,000 worth of public supplies and work time was stolen, according to DiNapoli.
LaPolla pleaded guilty to petit larceny. He was sentenced to 60 days of house arrest and three years of probation, DiNapoli said.
LaPolla was also indicted in federal court in September after he was charged with spending thousands of dollars on himself that came from a scholarship fund started in his wife’s memory. That case is ongoing.
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