A retired postal carrier who embezzled $400,000 from an elderly man he befriended on his route was sentenced today to one to three years in prison and ordered to make restitution.

Erie County Judge Michael A. D’Amico gave the minimum sentence to Peter Saraceno, 63, of West Seneca, who had pleaded guilty to second-degree grand larceny. Saraceno had faced up to 15 years in prison.

Saraceno had befriended the 78-year-old man, a fellow veteran, helping him move into a better house, running errands for him and washing his clothes.

But Saraceno also embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from him over the last several years, draining his life savings to finance a gambling habit, according to Erie County District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III.

Assistant District Attorney Candace K. Vogel noted at the sentencing hearing that Saraceno blamed the embezzlement on post-traumatic stress disorder, a condition she said does not include stealing.

“It’s disgusting that he blames it on anything but his greed,” Vogel said.

She noted that the victim is 100 percent disabled and confined to the Veterans Hospital in Batavia.
via Retired postal carrier sentenced to prison for $400,000 embezzlement