The former head of a New York LGBT community center has been sentenced to at least two years in prison for embezzling more than $300,000 from the organization.
Lisa Winters pleaded guilty to second-degree larceny on Feb. 14, in connection with the theft of $338,000 between 2005 and 2009 from the Bronx Community Pride Center.
Winters was led away in handcuffs on Monday after Bronx Supreme Court Justice Martin Marcus signed off a deal that’ll keep her locked up for two to six years, reported The New York Post.
Investigators said Winters used the money to pay for domestic and international travel, clothes, liquor, groceries and her dog walker. Among the expenses were $25,000 on a month-long trip to South Africa with her future-wife Eileen Scroggins in July 2007.
Never Miss a Beat
Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights.
“I’m so sorry to all the people that I hurt,” Winters said through a flood of tears. “I’m so sorry for all the harm I caused.”
The Bronx Community Pride Center closed this past summer after 16 years of operation. Board members cited “economic difficulties, past debt and inability to raise” funds in the decision to close the center.