A Pelham man has pleaded guilty to stealing pension payments intended for a deceased neighbor and repaid $147,000, according to the New York attorney general’s office.
The restitution includes about $6,000 in interest.
Danilo Pesce, 60, pleaded guilty to fourth-degree grand larceny before Albany County Court Judge Andra Ackerman.
The attorney general’s office said Pesce took $141,968 in New York State Teachers’ Retirement System benefits after retired teacher Jack Lee Morgan died in 2020.
Morgan retired from teaching in Pelham in 1991 and had no beneficiary entitled to continuing payments, according to the office.
The retirement system was not notified of his death and continued depositing about $3,497 a month.
Pesce had been Morgan’s caretaker and had been added to his bank account and property deed, the office said.
Investigators said Pesce withdrew pension money and used it for renovations to the home, where he and his wife lived part time.
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