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Former Saint Vincent accountant gets house arrest, probation in thefts [Erie Times-News, Pa. :: ](Erie Times-News (PA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Aug. 26--U.S. District Judge David S. Cercone agreed former Saint Vincent Hospital accountant Julie A. Wozniak's crime -- to defraud the hospital and private accounting client of about $92,000 -- was "despicable." But a stay in a federal penitentiary, he said, was not the solution for every federal crime. Cercone stepped outside federal sentencing guidelines Monday in U.S. District Court in Erie and ordered Wozniak, who now goes by her maiden name, Candela, to serve four years of probation, including a year of house arrest, on five felony counts of wire fraud. She must also pay restitution and perform 100 hours of community service, he said. No one who comes to federal court is there to get a "good conduct medal," Cercone said. A sentence outside of federal prison would save the taxpayers' money, allow Wozniak to continue to work and pay back the money she owes, he said. The government charged Wozniak took money through a series of improper transactions between March and June 2013 while she worked as a staff accountant at Saint Vincent and also operated a private accounting business called Keeping You Balanced, according to court records. Saint Vincent was able to recoup its losses by reversing the charges she made on hospital charge and bank accounts. Wozniak, 34, still owes nearly $6,000 to former accounting client Michael McMillen, who loudly criticized the sentence at the close of the hearing, causing Cercone to warn that he faced arrest if he continued. Outside the courtroom, McMillen, owner of Hilltop Beer Distributor of Erie, said he believed that Wozniak should face some prison time because of the amount of money at issue. McMillen said the more than $12,000 that Wozniak initially took from him almost put him out of business. Wozniak apologized in court. "I made bad decisions," she said. " I hurt people who did not deserve to be hurt." Her lawyer, Thomas Patton, an assistant federal public defender, urged probation as an adequate sentence. Wozniak had cooperated from the outset and waived her right to an indictment and pleaded guilty as charged. He said she committed the crimes during a period of personal crisis and was trying to hold her family together. Assistant U.S. Attorney Marshall Piccinini advocated for a sentence within federal sentencing guidelines, which recommended a term of 15 to 21 months in federal prison. Wozniak, he said, made dozens of fraudulent transactions and harmed close co-workers and McMillen, who was a family friend who placed his trust in her. Wozniak, among other things, spent hospital money at an online Apple store and bought cruise and airline tickets, Piccinini said. LISA THOMPSON can be reached at 870-1802 or by e-mail. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/ETNthompson. ___ (c)2014 the Erie Times-News (Erie, Pa.) Visit the Erie Times-News (Erie, Pa.) at www.GoErie.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |