James Beard Foundation Head Sentenced

“The former president of the James Beard Foundation was sentenced to one to three years in prison Monday in New York after he pleaded guilty to stealing more than a million dollars from the charitable organization he led for nine years. Leonard Pickell, 50, acknowledged he had stolen $1,106,099 by writing foundation checks for such personal expenses as groceries, his daughter’s sweet 16 party, limousines, renovating his home in Howell Township, N.J., and a BMW.”