Merced College embezzler gets 2 years in prison

A former Merced College employee convicted of embezzling more than $350,000 was sentenced Tuesday to serve two years in state prison.

Joseph Bisinger, 49, pleaded no contest late last year to one count of felony theft by false pretenses. While working as the college’s lead purchasing agent, prosecutors said, Bisinger charged the college for fake janitorial service at a Los Banos building no longer in use.

Bisinger charged the college for bogus work from November 2007 to February 2014 at the shuttered campus in Los Banos, prosecutors said. The college sold that campus in September 2007.

The college’s fraud insurance covered all but $500 of the money taken from the school, officials said.

“The ultimate victim in the case is the insurance company,” said Walter Wall, the Merced County deputy district attorney prosecuting the case.

College officials on Tuesday declined to comment.

Judge Mark V. Bacciarini also ordered Bisinger to pay $363,800 in restitution to the college’s insurance company.

The full sentence handed down by Bacciarini was four years in prison, but the judge stayed half the term, meaning Bisinger will serve only two years behind bars. It was unclear why the judge cut the sentence in half, but the term was more in line with the penalty requested by the college.

In a formal letter to the court, Merced Community College District officials requested a more lenient sentence, asking that Bisinger receive at least a six-month term in county jail and probation. The school’s money had already been replaced by its insurance, the letter said, so a speedy sentence was preferable.

Wall said a state prison sentence was necessary because of the “sophistication” involved in the crime and because Bisinger stole tax dollars from a community service.

Bisinger faced a maximum sentence of seven years in prison, prosecutors said.

“It was a very difficult process for my client,” Jeffrey Tenenbaum, Bisinger’s attorney, said, “but it seemed to be a fair sentence.”

Officials at Merced College said they have changed the auditing processes at the school since Bisinger’s actions came to light. The new process requires more than one person to sign off on every purchase, officials have said.

Bisinger started working for the college in March 2006 as a receiving clerk. He became the lead agent in June 2010, according to the college. As lead purchasing agent, he made $48,300 per year.

This story was originally published February 9, 2016 at 11:22 AM with the headline "Merced College embezzler gets 2 years in prison."