A former top administrator at the University at Buffalo has been sentenced for stealing more than $14,000 in state funds and using the money for personal travel and fitness.
Former UB Director of Campus Living Andrea Costantino, 48 of Depew, was sentenced to a three-year conditional discharge and 250 hours of community service. She has already made nearly $15,000 full restitution.
The sentence is for her September guilty plea to grand larceny in the fourth degree, a felony. Since 2013, Constantino was stealing from a Faculty Student Association-funded account.
Costantino’s direct supervisor, former UB Vice President of University Life Services Dennis Black, also pleaded guilty to stealing $320,000 through a related scheme. He is scheduled for sentencing January 10, 2018 on felony charges. As a condition of his plea, Black will pay $320,000 in restitution and $22,000 in back taxes.
“Today’s sentencing closed one chapter of a sordid scheme against taxpayers and required the defendant pay back every penny she stole," said State Inspector General Leahy Scott. "Both of these former top administrators selfishly violated the trust of the public and the students they served.”
Leahy Scott said the investigation into the practices and policies at UB and in regards to the use of funds intended for student activities remains ongoing.
