WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (WETM) – A Watkins Glen man was sentenced in court on Thursday for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from his former employer over the course of almost seven years.

On July 14, Louis Latorre, 48, was sentenced to five to 15 years in prison for the theft, the maximum possible sentence for each of his seven charges, according to the District Attorney’s Office. In June, Latorre pled guilty to pocketing $300,000 in “fictitious returns” from the hardware store Watkins Glen Supply between 2013 and 2020 and receiving $131,865 in public benefits.

Neither Latorre nor his wife reported the extra income—which investigators said was thousands every month—resulting in them receiving more than $125,000 in public benefits from the Department of Social Services.

Law enforcement was tipped off in 2020 when a security camera in the store caught Latorre putting cash in his pocket. DSS later notified the DA’s office that Latorre and his wife were likely committing the fraud.

Latorre was originally arrested in November 2020 for the theft. Almost a year later in October 2021, he and Kimberley Latorre were arrested for failing to report their income and receiving the $131,865 in benefits from Social Services.

In June 2022, Louis Latorre pled guilty to 2nd-degree Grand Larceny (two counts), 2nd-degree Welfare Fraud, 1st-degree Falsifying Business Records, and 1st-degree Offering a False Instrument for Filing (3 counts).