Former charity chief Aponte sentenced to 25 years for stealing in Texas

A tearful Louanne Aponte asked for forgiveness Friday after being sentenced to 25 years in prison for stealing more than $1 million from three local nonprofits.
Sitting on the witness stand in state District Judge Julie Kocurek's courtroom, Aponte, 52 , read from a statement in which she apologized to her family, the community and the charities from which she stole.
"I am sorry that as I battled my demons, you got hurt," she said.
Aponte pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree felony theft for stealing more than $800,000 from Family Connections, where she had become executive director in 2004, and more than $100,000 from the Texas Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies , where she was treasurer. Kocurek sentenced her to 25 years on those charges. Family Connections was forced to close because of the embezzlement.
Aponte also pleaded guilty to one count of state jail felony theft for stealing about $5,000 from Hyde Park Christian Church , where she volunteered as treasurer. Kocurek gave her two years for that crime. All the sentences will be served concurrently. Prosecutors said they didn't know how long she will have to serve before she is eligible for parole.
Prosecutor Susan Oswalt said she was satisfied with the plea agreement.
"I feel like her statement showed remorse, and she should show remorse," Oswalt said. "She hurt a lot of members of the community."
Aponte has agreed to forfeit to the state her home in the Circle C subdivision in Southwest Austin , her Mercedes and her boat to repay some of the money she stole. All of those items were paid for, at least partly, with the embezzled money. Prosecutors said the sale will probably generate about $300,000.
Juanita Torres , who worked at Family Connections, said she thought Aponte would get more time for her crimes but said the sentence seemed fair.
"I think this is going to give us some relief, some closure," Torres said.
Aponte's guilty plea wraps up more than a year of drama surrounding Family Connections, which had a $3.1 million-a-year budget and provided education, child care vouchers and other services to families.
The first signs of embezzlement appeared in late 2009 after a state auditor performing a regular review noticed a discrepancy in Family Connections' financial documents. In February 2010 — while state auditors were in the nonprofit's office scrutinizing the books — Aponte said she was going home sick. Instead, she got on a plane and fled to Venezuela.
Over the next week, auditors told Family Connections' board of directors that Aponte had been giving them phony audits. The nonprofit owed the Internal Revenue Service and creditors hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Less than two months later, the charity closed when its funders refused to give it more money. All the employees were laid off. Family Connections filed for bankruptcy, and that case is still winding its way through the courts.
Meanwhile, with Aponte in Venezuela, prosecutors charged her then-husband, Marco Aponte , with money laundering because his name was on bank accounts into which stolen money was funneled. The Apontes have since divorced.
Marco Aponte, whose case is still pending, has maintained that he had nothing to do with the scheme. Louanne Aponte's lawyer, Nate Stark , seemed to support that sentiment on Friday.
"There wasn't anybody else involved," he said.
Aponte returned to Austin in December to face the charges against her. At that time, prosecutors offered her a plea agreement of 40 years, said prosecutor Gregg Cox . But several things changed their minds: the fact that she came back of her own free will, that she cooperated with prosecutors and that as executive director of Family Connections she paid for theft insurance that could help the nonprofit get reimbursed for its losses.
In court Friday, Kocurek said she would honor the plea agreement but was uncomfortable with the arrangement because of the number of transactions involved in the thefts.
"It's unbelievable you were doing this," she told Aponte.
Aponte, who appeared in court wearing a black and gray striped jail uniform, spoke in a strong voice, saying that she knew that some people in the community aren't ready to hear what she has to say but that she wanted to speak from a place of "transparency, honesty and sincerity."
It was a privilege to work beside her colleagues at Family Connections and to worship at Hyde Park Christian Church, she said. She never meant to hurt anyone and is taking full responsibility for her actions, she said.
Aponte said she plans to devote herself in the coming years to healing spiritually, emotionally and mentally "so this tragedy will not define who I am."
She said she will live with the pain of what she did for the rest of her life and promised to come out of prison a better person.
"I will be one of the success stories," she said.