ALBANY — An Albany man who stole $230,000 in pension and Social Security benefits from an 87-year-old New York state retiree has been sentenced to two to six years in state prison, State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced Wednesday.
Devin Zielinski was also ordered to pay $115,000 in restitution. His partner in the scheme, Amber Diacetis, was previously sentenced to time served in jail, ordered to pay $100,000 in restitution and serve five years of probation.
According to DiNapoli, Rensselaer County District Attorney Mary Pat Donnelly and State Police Superintendent Steven G. James, the pair convinced the elderly pensioner to allow them to move into his home as live-in caregivers and manage his finances. Instead, they stole his monthly $3,526 state pension and $2,138 in Social Security benefits from January 2018 through August 2023.
Authorities said the theft left the victim unable to pay his mortgage, property taxes and other bills for four years. His home was eventually foreclosed upon, utilities were shut off and his car was repossessed. Officials said he was living in poor conditions and in need of care before being removed from the home. Zielinski continued to occupy the residence after foreclosure proceedings began.
Zielinski pleaded guilty in April to grand larceny in the third degree and was sentenced by Judge Jennifer Sober in Rensselaer County Court. He had previously failed to appear for his original sentencing in June and was later located and arrested in Cohoes on Oct. 10, 2025, with assistance from the Cohoes Police Department.
Officials described the case as a serious instance of elder abuse and financial exploitation and credited cooperation among the Comptroller’s Office, the Rensselaer County District Attorney’s Office, New York State Police and the Schodack Police Department in securing the conviction and restitution.
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