Christine Landis

Attorney Enters ‘Not Guilty’ Plea for Second Lunch Lady Facing Felony Larceny Charge

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Attorneys representing one of the lunch ladies accused of stealing nearly $500,000 in cash from New Canaan school cafeterias entered a not guilty plea Tuesday. Marie Wilson appeared in state Superior Court in Stamford before Judge John Blawie. Her sister, Joanne Pascarelli, who also had been arrested by New Canaan Police in August and already pleaded not guilty to a first-degree larceny charge, was in the courtroom. Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Joseph Valdes said during the hearing that Wilson’s attorney, Christine Landis of The Law Offices of Mark Sherman Law, had just been given a “CD with bank records retrieved by police, subject to search warrants, and she needs time to review them.”

Wilson’s case was continued to Jan. 11. 

A Wilton resident, she had been employed as the assistant food director at New Canaan High School.

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Lunch Lady’s Attorney: Former Food Services Director ‘May Have Been Involved in a Fraud’

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An attorney for one of the former New Canaan lunch ladies accused of stealing a total of nearly $500,000 in cash from school cafeterias said Monday that he’s “optimistic” regarding his client’s case and also interested to find out what role was played by a man who used to oversee food services for the district. Stamford-based attorney Darnell Crosland told reporters that he has made an official request for discovery, in part to find out whether there’s evidence exonerating his client, Joanne Pascarelli, and also made an inquiry into Bruce Gluck, former head of food services for New Canaan Public Schools. “There is evidence that he may have been involved in a fraud, but it’s outside of the statute of limitations,” Crosland said at Stamford Courthouse after Pascarelli appeared before Judge Gary White. She and her sister, Marie Wilson, were arrested last month by New Canaan Police and charged with first-degree larceny following a monthslong investigation prompted by a complaint from the school district. 

“The idea here is that there’s $500,000 that’s alleged they have taken,” Crosland said. “And there’s an old adage, ‘Follow the money.’ And when you look at these individuals, there’s no cookie crumbs leading us to any money here, at all.