Former Utica mayor, school board president Louis Lapolla takes plea in county court

Former Utica Mayor and school board President Louis LaPolla pleaded guilty to petit larceny on Wednesday in Oneida County Court.

LaPolla accepted a plea deal that will have him serving 60 days in domicile restrictions and three years’ probation as well as paying $3,100 in restitution, Oneida County District Attorney Todd Carville said.

His sentencing will take place April 10.

In his allocution, which was part of the plea deal, LaPolla admitted that he let school employees’ use working time and district-owned supplies to send out flyers inviting people to a fundraiser for a scholarship fund in his wife’s memory, said Laurie Lisi, executive administrative assistant district attorney.

“He acknowledged that he had a conversation with Mr. Karam initially and, subsequent to that conversation, he went to the administration building and he took flyers to the administration building,” Lisi said.

“He left the flyers there and ... sometime later he came back to pick up those flyers. Those flyers were now in envelopes that had mailing labels on them and postage stamps on them. And those flyers were worked on by Mr. Karam’s secretaries during work hours.”

LaPolla admitted that the envelopes, labels and stamps belonged to the school district, she said. The restitution is to cover the cost of supplies and labor, Lisi said.

LaPolla was initially charged in November with fourth degree grand larceny and public corruption.

Former Utica City School District Superintendent Bruce Karam is facing related charges. The charges allegedly stemming from allegations of the use of district property and staff time for personal reasons.

Karam is expected to appear in court Thursday.

It’s too soon to say whether LaPolla’s plea deal will affect the case against Karam, but “as far as what he allocated it, it certainly is relevant,” Carville said.

LaPolla also faces six counts of federal mail fraud in relation to funds raised for his wife’s scholarship fund, which LaPolla allegedly spent on other things. LaPolla allegedly spent about $38,000 he collected in scholarship donations between March 2018 and May 2022 without giving out any scholarships. His wife, Andrea, died in March 2018.

The federal charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, a fine of $1.5 million and three years of supervised release, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of New York.

LaPolla served as mayor from 1984 to 1995 and served on the school board for 21 years, acting as president during the 2021-2022 school year, after which he retired from public service.

This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Former Utica mayor Louis LaPolla pleads guilty to petit larceny