A Bronx Department of Education staffer who quietly turned a middle school budget into a personal side hustle is now headed to jail. On Tuesday, Rusnelly Clase was sentenced to six months behind bars, followed by five years of post-release supervision, after authorities said she funneled more than $170,000 in school funds to sham vendors. Her husband, Justin Echevarria, was sentenced to five years of probation. Prosecutors said the fraud ran from 2018 through February 2022 and revolved around M.S. 302 in the Longwood neighborhood, where Clase worked as a community coordinator.
How prosecutors say the scheme worked
According to investigators, Clase quietly signed up her husband and a friend as non-contracted vendors in the DOE payment system, then pushed through bogus purchase orders and invoices for clothing items that never showed up. The paperwork claimed the school was buying sweatshirts, T-shirts, shorts and jackets, but prosecutors say it was all fiction. Using access she did not have permission to use, Clase allegedly approved the fake invoices herself and set off DOE payments that added up to more than $170,000. Of that total, more than $90,000 allegedly went to Echevarria and about $75,000 to the other co-conspirator, as detailed by the Bronx District Attorney's Office.
Sentencing, restitution and plea
Clase and Echevarria admitted to their roles this spring. The pair pleaded guilty on April 9 to fourth-degree corrupting the government and were sentenced on July 14 in Bronx Supreme Court. Clase has already paid $50,000 in restitution and was ordered to pay another $36,654.88. Echevarria was ordered to pay $47,448.63. Local coverage noted that the judge paired Clase’s jail term with Echevarria’s probation and the restitution orders as the penalties tied to their guilty pleas, as reported by Norwood News.
Investigators respond
Special Commissioner of Investigation Anastasia Coleman did not mince words about what the case says about the school system’s vulnerabilities. She wrote that "the New York City public school system is not a personal piggy bank," adding that her office will keep pursuing employees who treat it that way. The Special Commissioner’s Office worked with the Bronx District Attorney’s Financial Frauds Bureau to unravel the scheme, according to a release from the Bronx District Attorney’s Office.
Who prosecuted the case
The prosecution itself was handled by Assistant District Attorneys Robert F. Lindston and Zachary Reid of the Financial Frauds Bureau, according to local reporting. They worked under the supervision of senior bureau leadership, with help from forensic accountants and detectives who tracked the money trail. Coverage credited both the DA’s investigative staff and the Special Commissioner’s team with following the payments and building the case against Clase and Echevarria, per Norwood News.
What it means for students and schools
For families and educators, the fallout is about more than one couple’s scam. School and community advocates say the case underscores weak points in DOE procurement and vendor oversight that can quietly siphon money away from student programs and classroom needs. The sentencing lands as broader questions swirl around DOE contracting and spending practices across the city, an issue local outlets have been keeping close tabs on, as noted by amNewYork.
