A former University of Arizona animal-sciences professor was sentenced Monday to probation and restitution of $83,000 for theft from a student-run meat store.
In a plea agreement, Pima County Superior Court Judge Richard Nichols sentenced John A. Marchello, 81, to six months of supervised probation and restitution of $83,020.89, said Deputy County Attorney Ben Mendola.
Under the agreement, Marchello pleaded guilty to theft, a class-four felony, and faced probation or prison at the court’s discretion, Mendola said.
Marchello had been one of the university’s longest-serving faculty members. He faced 10 felony counts of skimming proceeds from a student-operated meat store he oversaw.
The Pima County Attorney’s Office said in August 2016 that Marchello misdirected almost $223,000 from UA meat sales and meat processing, and that he kept a portion for his own benefit.
Officials said he diverted proceeds by using a false invoice scheme that funneled meat-store payments into non-UA checking accounts he controlled.
UA students sell butchered livestock at the school’s agriculture center on North Campbell Avenue as part of their education in animal husbandry.
Marchello retired from his job about a month after his indictment in 2015.
The Attorney’s Office is pursuing a related civil lawsuit. The suit names Marchello’s wife, who still works at the UA, as a co-defendant.
The suit alleges Elaine Marchello, who was not criminally charged, would have benefited financially from her spouse’s wrongdoing.
From 2009 to 2015, Elaine Marchello was the UA’s assistant dean for agriculture academic programs at a salary of $106,000 a year, according to UA records. After her husband’s indictment she took a lower-paid position in a different area of the university.
Now she is assistant director of assessment in the Office of Instruction and Assessment and gets paid $90,000 a year, according to the UA salary list for this school year.
