(Stamford, CT) – Paul J. Ferencek, State’s Attorney for the Stamford/Norwalk Judicial District, today announced that a jury in Stamford Superior Court on July 14, 2025 found Bruce Gluck, age 67, formerly of New Milford, guilty of Larceny in the First Degree by Defrauding a Public Community, in violation of Connecticut General Statutes §§§ 53a-119(6)(C), 53a-122, and 53a-8, Conspiracy to Larceny in the First Degree by Defrauding a Public Community, in violation of Connecticut General Statutes §§§ 53a-48(a), 53a-119(6)(C), and 53a-122, and Tampering with Physical Evidence, in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53a-155(a)(1).
In December 2017, officials from the New Canaan Board of Education (BOE) reported to the New Canaan Police Department that there were thefts of lunch money for more than 15 years at New Canaan High School (NCHS) and Saxe Middle School (Saxe) cafeterias. During this time, Marie Wilson was the Assistant Food Director at NCHS, Joanne Pascarelli, the Assistant Food Director at Saxe, and Bruce Gluck was the Food Services Director for the BOE and the direct supervisor of both Wilson and Pascarelli.
The BOE conducted an internal financial investigation based on a complaint from cafeteria cashiers that the cash registers at the respective schools were not counted at the end of each day, specifically at the instruction of Marie Wilson (NCHS), and Joanne Pascarelli (Saxe). Wilson, Pascarelli and Gluck were responsible for the accounting of the funds paid by students and others for the food consumed at the respective BOE cafeterias. Cashiers testified that both Wilson and Pascarelli instructed that the cash register drawers be brought to their respective offices without an end of the day counting of the cash and that Gluck was aware of this conduct.
A BOE accounting of the amount of cash intake from 2013 to 2018 showed significantly more money receipts from the registers when Wison and Pascarelli were not present than when they were present. Forensic accounting shows unexplained large cash deposits into the personal banking accounts of Wilson, Pascarelli and Gluck during this time. The estimated loss from Saxe Middle School for the period of time of 2012 to 2017 was $127,682 and loss from New Canaan High School for the same time period of 2012-2017 was $350,906.
The estimated loss to the New Canaan Board of Education was in excess of $478,588 from 2012 to 2017.
Gluck is scheduled to be sentenced in Stamford Superior Court on September 19, 2025.
The Stamford/Norwalk State's Attorney’s Office would like to thank the jury that took time from their personal lives to serve on this case, and the New Canaan Board of Education and the New Canaan Police Department for their thorough investigations and testimony. Senior management at the Board of Education detected the thefts of cash and notified the police. Because of their diligent attention, the crime of skimming of cash that was a small percentage of the total lunch revenue, would not have been noticed.
The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Joseph C. Valdes, with the assistance of Assistant State’s Attorney Kyle J. LaBuff from the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit at the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney. Forensic Fraud Examiner 2 Michele Paige testified at trial as a witness.
Codefendants Marie Wilson, age 74, of Wilton, and Joanne Pascarelli, age 58, of Stratford, entered pleas before the commencement of trial to a judicial offer in Stamford Superior Court to charges of Larceny in the First Degree by Defrauding a Public Community and Conspiracy to Commit Larceny in the First Degree by Defrauding a Public Community. Wilson is scheduled to be sentenced on July 24, 2025, and Pascarelli is scheduled for sentencing on September 10, 2025.