By William Kenny

Times Staff Writer

One of two ex-city police officers who live in the Northeast and were involved in the million-dollar theft and fraud case at Philadelphia Academy Charter School has been ordered to spend more than three years in prison.

Meanwhile, the other former cop - who directed the charter school's board of trustees - will have to wait a bit longer to learn her fate.

U.S. District Judge Eduardo C. Robreno on Thursday sentenced Kevin O'Shea, 50, to 37 months in a federal lockup and ordered him to pay $900,000 in restitution to the Northeast school that he supervised but fleeced for his own profit. He also must pay a $500,000 fine to the federal government.

O'Shea is the retired patrol cop who rose to become Philadelphia Academy's highly paid chief executive officer despite having no college degree or certification as an educator.

On Friday, Robreno postponed the sentencing for Rosemary DiLacqua, 51, until Dec. 15. DiLacqua was an active-duty detective with the Philadelphia Police Department while also serving as chairwoman of the school's board of trustees. She resigned from the board, then retired from the police force this year, in the wake of the fiscal scandal at the school.

According to federal sentencing guidelines, DiLacqua is subject to a similar prison term for her role in the scheme that resulted in the theft of more than $1 million from the publicly funded charter school.

A third alleged conspirator in the scheme, Philadelphia Academy co-founder Brien Gardiner, committed suicide weeks before the U.S. Attorney's Office announced a multi-count grand jury indictment against O'Shea and DiLacqua on July 1.

A sentencing memorandum submitted to the court by Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek A. Cohen indicated that Gardiner had admitted his participation in the scheme and had agreed to testify against the other defendants.

O'Shea similarly agreed to testify against DiLacqua as he pleaded guilty on July 20 to mail fraud, theft from a federally funded program and filing a false tax return. DiLacqua pleaded guilty to a mail-fraud count on July 21.

O'Shea was apologetic on Thursday in a packed courtroom split between angry parents and his own supporters, and he told the court that he "was blinded by greed."

The sentencing document described how O'Shea misappropriated or simply took hundreds of thousands of dollars intended to benefit the students of the school. Students do not pay tuition at charter schools; the schools receive tax dollars to educate each student in an alternative setting to the local public-school system.

"(O'Shea) abused his position as CEO of PACS to enrich himself," Cohen wrote. "Through a variety of funds, (the) defendant stole $900,000 that was intended to be used to educate children.

"Defendant's thefts ranged from the brazen misappropriation of over $700,000 of PACS monies to fund his own business interests to the petty submission of false invoices for family meals and gas. Defendant, who, by any objective criteria, lacked the experience to run a school, turned PACS into a profit center for him and his family.

"Through his crimes, (the) defendant upgraded his middle-class existence to one which included a $1 million shore house, a boat, new cars and the addition of an entire new floor to his home."

The document further notes that when O'Shea "knew he was about to get caught," he hired a technician to destroy evidence on computers at the school. He then attempted to bill the school for the job.

The "advisory guideline range" for sentencing O'Shea would have been 41 to 51 months, but the prosecution requested - and the court granted - a reduction in return for the defendant's plea and cooperation. Robreno issued a prison term at the top end of the adjusted 30-to-37-month range.

According to O'Shea's sentencing memo, DiLacqua is subject to the same guideline range, although her defense attorneys have challenged the government's calculations.

She has admitted to taking $34,000 in payments from Gardiner and/or O'Shea while using her power as the chairwoman of the volunteer board to approve lucrative long-term consulting contracts for Gardiner, along with substantial salary bonuses and raises for O'Shea, who was receiving more than $200,000 a year as CEO.

Although her criminal activity occurred while she was a full-time employee of the Philadelphia Police Department, DiLacqua is not subject to losing her police retirement benefits because she left the force before the indictment, a police spokesman said.

DiLacqua was enrolled in the department's "DROP" deferred-retirement program, but left the force before her mandatory retirement date.

Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com