Cop widows rip scammer

Woman who stole $400G from charity faces prison

A Staten Island woman who stole $406,000 from a charity for the families of slain NYPD officers was slammed in scathing letters from widows as “greedy” and “despicable.”

The letters filed in Manhattan Federal Court ahead of Lorraine Shanley’s sentencing next week detailed her betrayal of the charity, Survivors of the Shield, from 2010 to 2017. Shanley served as treasurer of the group and spent more than $25,000 of the pilfered money on landscaping, $32,000 on bills and $10,000 on eyewear.

The charity relied almost entirely on donations from roughly 5,500 NYPD employees who automatically contributed a cut of their paychecks, generating $200,000 to $275,000 per year. The money was supposed to go to surviving widows and children of NYPD cops killed in the line of duty.

“She had stolen from this organization that was founded out of honor and respect. I along with the other survivors was once again a victim of crime. And the tears began to flow, but not for me or my beloved organization, but for the men and women of the NYPD who so generously gave to Survivors of the Shield,” wrote Mary Beth O’Neill, co-founder of the group and widow of Police Officer Thomas Ruotolo, who was killed in 1984.

Others wrote that Shanley’s scam had badly damaged the charity’s reputation.

“I am sickened… I am furious,” wrote Grace Russell, a former president of the charity who was widowed in 1979.

“I am so disappointed and angry,” wrote Rita Williams, whose husband was killed in the line of duty in 1989.

“[Shanley] became ‘that greedy widow.’ I am embarrassed and heartbroken.”

Shanley faces a recommended sentence of more than two years. More than a dozen people also wrote in her support, including former NYPD officers.

Shanley pleaded guilty in October and seeks probation. She tried to excuse her conduct in a letter to the court, citing her son’s serious legal trouble at the time and other hardships.

Shanley’s husband, Officer Thomas Shanley, died of a heart attack on the job in 1986.

“I made this terrible mistake that has brought me before you and has ruined my life at this late stage,” Shanley wrote to the judge.

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett Kalikow wasn’t buying it, writing that Shanley lacked “genuine remorse.”

“Shanley’s personal hardships are counterbalanced by her victimization of those very people who faced similar circumstances. By definition, each SOS member also confronted the premature and unexpected death of a spouse or parent in the line of duty,” Kalikow wrote.

“Through SOS, Shanley personally met these survivors. She learned about their struggles, comforted them, and assured them that SOS was there to help. Yet all the while, she was pocketing the money that had been donated to support them.”