From the beach house to the Big House for La Salle thief

Stephen Greb was all about family, about bringing the relatives together to make memories and continue traditions, his wife and daughter told a judge yesterday.

The only problem is, Greb, 59, financed his memories with more than $5.6 million that he stole from his former employer of 26 years, La Salle University - most of which he used to buy a home at the Jersey shore.

Before being sentenced to 55 1/2 to 111 months in prison, a red-eyed Greb spoke about being remorseful for having betrayed the university, where he worked for years as food-service director before being promoted in 2006 to director of auxiliary services.

His attorney, Kevin Raphael, asked Common Pleas Judge Lillian Ransom to sentence Greb to house arrest and community service, noting that he had paid back about $3 million and was driven to provide financially for his family because he lost his own father at age 12.

"He had a compulsion to fill a need for financial stability for himself and his family," Raphael said.

But it was greed that motivated him to steal, said Assistant District Attorney Mark Winter, who asked the judge to sentence Greb to six to 12 years in prison.

Winter said Greb used most of the money - stolen between 1997 and 2010 - to build a lavish beach home in Avalon.

"I think it was a whole lot of providing for Mr. Greb's lifestyle," said Winter, noting that Greb's beach house had two kitchens with top-notch appliances, a pool and $220,000 worth of interior decorating.

As part of a restitution agreement, Greb has deeded the home to La Salle, which has put it on the market as a rental.

Judge Ransom told Greb that he had to go to prison because he knew better and because the amount he stole far exceeded what was needed to provide for his family.

Rose Lee Pauline, La Salle's assistant vice president for administration planning and affirmative action, told the judge that Greb's theft has led to layoffs, to hiring and pay freezes in food services, to cuts in student financial aid and to a halt to the university's being able to make matching contributions to employee-retirement accounts.

Last month Greb pleaded guilty to theft, forgery and unlawful use of a computer. He admitted to setting up a fictitious food company called Sunshine Foods that he repeatedly authorized payments to by forging signatures, and pocketed the money.

After Greb was arrested, authorities found his "Sunshine Foods nest egg" file containing plans to steal $2 million from 2011 to 2015, when he would have retired.

Greb, formerly of Blue Bell, Montgomery County, was paid $127,000 a year as auxiliary director, overseeing campus food service, mail distribution, printing operations and the campus store.

Before being led from the courtroom, Greb, a married father of a young daughter and two adult daughters from a previous marriage, turned to face his sobbing, extended family. "I'm sorry," his lips moved to say, without his actually speaking.