HAMBURG, N.Y. — A Hamburg man was sentenced on Friday before an Erie County Court Judge for embezzling more than $340,000 from a dead relative's estate.
Craig Arno, 63, was sentenced in court Friday to five-years of probation.
Investigators say that over the course of almost seven years, Arno had been pocketing his dead relative's money that was supposed to have been donated to local charities.
Arno was the power of attorney for the deceased relative, and had been depositing the money into his own personal bank account between September of 2016 and August of 2023.
He had also failed to report the stolen money on his personal tax returns, and was reported by the Surrogate Court Administrator.
Arno plead guilty in July to one count of grand larceny in the second degree, and one count of offering false instrument for filing in the first degree.
As part of Arno's plea, he signed a confession of judgement in the amount of $342,036. Court officials say he paid $8,000 in upfront restitution, and is required to continue making payments as a condition of his sentence.
