THE ASSOCIATED PRESS  

First Posted: April 26, 2011 - 2:32 pm

Last Updated: April 26, 2011 - 5:46 pm

http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/a0b2f7c3e6e741958566a775625c388c/NJ--College-Theft-Sentencing/

NEWARK, N.J. — A New Jersey judge handed prison sentences Tuesday to a Jersey City husband and wife who admitted stealing more than $500,000 from a college's student fund.

Alexander Moody and Shaunette Ruffin-Moody pleaded guilty in December to theft and money laundering charges.

Ruffin-Moody worked as an office manager for New Jersey City University's Student Government Organization. Prosecutors say Alexander Moody hatched a scheme in which the couple wrote about 275 unauthorized checks to themselves and other co-conspirators and used some of the stolen money for gambling trips to Atlantic City.

Between January 2007 and July 2010, about $516,000 was stolen, according to court documents. The Moodys covered their tracks by falsifying documents, moving money between the organization's accounts and producing fraudulent audits, the U.S. attorney's office said.

U.S. District Judge William Martini on Tuesday sentenced Moody to six years in prison. Ruffin-Moody received an 18-month sentence. He also ordered them to pay back the $516,000.

A third co-conspirator, Kimberly Jackson of Jersey City, received three years' probation Tuesday after pleading guilty in February to conspiracy. She was ordered to pay $34,000 in restitution.

Another defendant pleaded guilty last month, and charges are pending against a fifth person allegedly involved in the scheme.