An 80-year-old nun who stole more than $800,000 to fund a gambling habit has been jailed for one year and a day in the US.
A California court heard how Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, principal of St James Catholic School in Torrance near Los Angeles, diverted $835,000 of school funds to pay for gambling jaunts in Las Vegas.
She also used the money to pay for luxury trips to resorts such as Lake Tahoe and Temecula.
The nun admitted wire fraud and money laundering during a hearing last year.
The court heard how money sent to the school to pay for tuition and charitable donations was instead diverted into secret accounts controlled by Kreuper.
When an audit threatened to expose the scheme, Kreuper told employees to destroy incriminating documents.
It was reported that she was initially confronted by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and she had argued that priests were better paid than nuns and that she thought she deserved a raise.
District Judge Otis D Wright II told Kreuper that he had wrestled with what to do with her, and acknowledged she had been a good teacher for many decades,
"But somewhere along the line, you just ran completely off the road, and I think you understand that. At least I hope you do," he said.
She was sentenced to 12 months and one day behind bars.
She was also ordered to pay a total of $825,338.57 in restitution.
Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, the nun said: "I have sinned, I have broken the law, and I have no excuses".
She said her crimes were "a violation of my vows, the commandments, the law, and above all the sacred trust that so many had placed in me".
