LaPolla pleas in federal court; faces up to 20 years in prison

Former Utica Mayor and former school board President Louis LaPolla, 78, pleaded guilty on Friday in federal court in Syracuse to one count of mail fraud, according to federal officials.

The announcement was made in a statement by U.S. Attorney Carla Freedman and Craig Tremaroli, special agent in charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

LaPolla faces a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $1.5 million and up to three years of supervised release. He will also be required to pay $38,616 in restitution.

He will be sentenced on Sept. 10 by United States District Judge Glenn Suddaby.

Indictment

LaPolla was indicted in September on six counts of federal mail fraud related to donations he solicited and received for a scholarship fund in memory of his late wife Andrea, who died in 2018. Although he only pleaded guilty to one count, his plea agreement requires him to pay restitution and admit to his conduct on all six counts.

In his allocution, LaPolla admitted to soliciting donations for scholarships for Utica City School District students pursuing post-secondary studies in health-related fields. He almost admitted to spending more than $38,000 of the money raised instead of depositing it into the scholarship fund, according to the statement.

LaPolla has previously said that his wife’s death left him with considerable medical debt and that he did not realize he could not borrow money from the scholarship fund to pay off some of that debt. The fund has, he said, given out six scholarships.

LaPolla also pleaded guilty in February in Oneida County Court to a misdemeanor charge of petit larceny. He was sentenced in April to 60 days of house arrest, three years of probation and ordered the payment of $3,100 in restitution.

Those charges relate to invitations he sent out to a fundraising dinner for his wife’s scholarship fund. At the suggestion of former Utica Superintendent Bruce Karam, LaPolla had school staff send out the invitations during work hours using school district supplies.

Karam pleaded guilty in March to felony public corruption, a felony, in relation to the same incident and to another in which school staff mailed out political flyers for a school board candidate.

He was sentenced to five years of probation, 250 hours of community service and the payment of $12,000 in restitution. He also agreed to a reduction in his pension benefits.

The school district fired Karam in November after placing him on paid administrative leave in October, 2022.

The federal case against LaPolla was investigated by the FBI with help from the New York State Police and the Oneida County District Attorney’s Office. It is being prosecuted by U.S. Attorney Michael Perry.

LaPolla served as mayor from 1984 to 1995. He later served on the school board for 21 years, including as president during his last term. He retired from the school board and from public service in 2022.

He also previously served as the head of Utica’s municipal housing authority.

This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Former Mayor Louis LaPolla pleads guilty to federal mail fraud