At a community forum held last Tuesday at Roslyn High School, Peter Mancuso, an assistant district attorney for Nassau County, defended the plea agreement of Dr. Frank A. Tassone, while also telling local residents that he expects more arrests to be made in regard to the embezzlement scandal.

Last month, Dr. Tassone, the district's former superintendent, pled guilty to two counts of Grand Larceny charges. He also agreed to face a prison sentence of 4-12 years and to restitution payments of $1.1 million. Sentencing is expected to take place in late November.

Mancuso called the plea agreement a "very serious sentence." Full restitution, Mancuso claimed, would reach $2 million. Furthermore, he added that Dr. Tassone's testimony was "instrumental" to the indictment of Andrew Miller, the former auditor for the Roslyn School District, who was charged in early September on 26 counts, including Tampering with Public Records, Falsifying Business Records, Tampering with Physical Evidence, and Offering a False Instrument for Filing.

Miller was a former partner in the auditing firm of Miller, Lilly, & Pearce, LLP. Not only did that firm do auditing work for the Roslyn district, but also for no less than 50 public school districts in both Nassau and Suffolk counties. When District Attorney Denis Dillon announced the Tassone plea last month, he noted that the Miller indictment would lead "to information on the 50 or more districts that he audited on Long Island," implying that the indictment was essential for the ongoing and thorough investigations of districts on the island.

In all, Mancuso defended the Tassone plea as an "extraordinary plea" in an "extraordinary case," one that was "fair and just" and far preferable than going through what Mancuso claimed would have been a "long, drawn out trial."

During a question and answer session, most school district residents remained angry at the fallout from both the embezzlement and the plea agreement. When one resident wondered if it was possible to withhold Dr. Tassone's pension, Mancuso noted that such pension guarantees are written into the New York State constitution.

On other issues, Mancuso denied that there was any conspiracy between Dr. Tassone and Pamela Gluckin. More significantly, local residents, including a former school board member, expressed a desire for more remorse from the former superintendent. In response, Mancuso could only assure residents that the county expects "full restitution" for the embezzled funds.

In addition, other residents wanted an investigation of past school bonds, especially those designed for needed building improvements, to see if the monies were spent properly.

In his opening statements, Mancuso updated the audience on the ongoing investigation. He noted that six defendants have been charged on various counts and that, as noted, more arrests will be forthcoming in the future. Earlier this month, John McCormick was charged with Grand Larceny and Offering a False Instrument for Filing. Other defendants include Pamela Gluckin, a former assistant superintendent whose alleged theft totals are estimated at $4 million; Debra Rigano, a district clerk, whose alleged embezzlement total may reach as high as $780,000, and Stephen Signorelli, a principal at WordPower (WP), a company that prepared and printed handbooks for the school district.