39-year-old John Tluczek was so relieved to avoid jail time today he gave a rambling speech in court that the presiding judge quipped "was beginning to sound like an Academy Awards speech." Tluczek, his wife and two buddies from NYU were busted in 2009 for running a so-called "beaut of a scam" in which over five years they would make large ATM withdrawals from lazy banks, then claim that their cards had been stolen and keep the cash.
“I greatly appreciate and greatly cherish the opportunity for a second chance,” Tluczek said in court before starting a laundry list of people he'd like to thank. In April he pleaded guilty to scheming to defraud and eight counts of grand larceny. Rather than jail time he has been ordered to pay back $300,000 (which his lawyer says he has already done) and perform 180 days of community service over the course of his five years of probation.
Marzena Tluczek, John's wife, previously pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of scheming to defraud and was given a conditional discharge. His co-conspirator Eric Manganelli, a once well-connected lawyer, received a simliar sentence on Wednesday, in which he agreed to pay back $500,000 and lost his license to practice law. The fourth member of the crew, Lam Dang, is currently awaiting trial in Brooklyn Supreme Court.
