Charter school teacher sentenced in supply theft scheme
A former charter school employee accused of a scheme to steal thousands of dollars in school materials was sentenced Monday to two years of probation.
Christopher Olmstead pleaded guilty in June to theft after making 21 fake accounts to apply for money and classroom materials from a nonprofit crowdfunding site while he was teaching sixth grade at Legacy Traditional School.
He admitted in June that he took iPads, tablets, electronics, cleaning goods, household goods and toys from the website by using fake names from about October 2021 through December 2021.
Olmstead’s defense attorney, Charles Goodwin, said the stolen items were being used to teach the students, and they were all found in Olmstead’s classroom.
“He is an individual who did the wrong thing for the right reasons,” Goodwin said.
Fellow teacher Andrea Fuentes-Soto and the school’s former principal, Victoria Welling, have also pleaded guilty in the case. Fuentes-Soto made 16 fake accounts and was sentenced to probation in April.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Colleen Baharav said that although Olmstead was using the items in his classroom and not for personal use, he stole $24,000 worth of goods from the charity.
“The terms of the program only allow each teacher to fund one project,” Baharav said. “Even if he did use the items for his classroom, which seems pretty clear at this point, he still broke the terms of that charity and precluded other people from getting funds for their school. His students certainly benefited from the property that he is accused of taking.”
Olmstead declined to make a comment before or after his sentencing.
Welling held less culpability for the thefts than the two teachers, prosecutors have said. The principal pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of conspiracy to commit theft in February and was sentenced to credit for time she had already served in custody.
District Court Judge Michael Villani said Olmstead is not allowed to have contact with any of the codefendants in the case. He has already paid $4,200 in restitution to the school.
“Although your motives were pure, you should have known better,” the judge said. “As a schoolteacher, you need to teach the kids responsibility. There’s a right and wrong way to do something, and you did the wrong thing.”
Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter.