Court documents state that an administrator at the University of California, San Francisco, "spiral[ed] into the depths of destructive behavior," taking $1.5 million in tuition payments.

In appearance, Sandra "Sandi" Eileen Le, 55, was a dignified middle-aged woman who held a steady position at the UCSF School of Nursing as an academic program officer. But even though she kept up the appearance of control, she was totally insane when she wasn't working. Julia Mezhinsky Jayne, Le's attorney, stated in a sentencing memo that Le was gambl[ing] away all of her savings on "a variety of 'designer' or party drugs."

Le was sentenced to one year and eight months in prison by a federal judge in San Francisco last week for three charges of wire fraud.

"Trust Abuse"

The dishonest administrator transferred over 300 student tuition cheques into her own bank accounts between 2013 and March 2019. She instructed pupils to send her cash or to make cheques payable to her. Additionally, prosecutors claim that she was a frequent customer of RSG, a reseller of "jewelry, high-end purses, and other accessories," and asked pupils to write checks to them for a certain amount.

Le was able to win the trust of the pupils by "cultivating close relationships with them, such as by getting to know them and their families," they continued, explaining why the plan lasted for so long.

Le squandered the money on "lavish" trips, jewelry, purses, and house improvements in addition to bingeing on drugs and gambling in her free time, according to court filings. 

When auditors started investigating a financial gap in the school's post-masters program in May 2019, Le's plot came to an end. Le went home sick after they asked for permission to look through her "work-related data," and she never returned.

"Had Her Whole Life Deceived"

Soon later, a pupil gave a $9K check made out to RSG to a school official standing in for Le. The pupil said they were following Le's directions when pressed to elaborate. 

Jayne noted in her sentencing brief that Le's gambling and drug use spiraled out of control once she found out she wasn't biologically linked to the guy she thought was her father.

"Her entire life, she had been duped." Jayne stated, "This information completely derailed her when she found out." "Ms. Le was getting out of hand. She said, "Her excessive use of cocaine, prescription medications, alcohol, methamphetamine, and LSD fed an untreated gambling addiction.