Former GAC director admits to embezzlement

By Larry Austin

Island Dispatch Editor

Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announced Tuesday that 71-year-old Barbara Gannon of Grand Island pleaded guilty, as charged, before Erie County Court Judge Sheila A. DiTullio, to one count of grand larceny in the second degree, a class C felony.

According to the DA’s office, Gannon admitted that she stole $110,671 between July 2011 and Dec. 5, 2017, while employed as the recreation supervisor at the Golden Age Center.

Last January, the supervising accountant for the town began inquiring about missing funds after invoices for Meals on Wheels and other expenses went unpaid. Town leaders contacted the Erie County District Attorney’s Office to investigate the matter. The defendant was no longer employed at the senior center at the time of the investigation.

The defendant used the stolen money for her own personal expenses. As part of her plea, Gannon agreed to pay back the full amount to the Town of Grand Island. She has since paid back $5,891.

Gannon faces a maximum of 15 years in prison when she is sentenced at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, May 2. She was released on her own recognizance.

The case was investigated and prosecuted by Candace K. Vogel, chief of the DA’s Special Investigations and Prosecutions (SIP) Bureau.