Jury Finds Former Sacramento Man Guilty for Knowingly Misusing Money Stolen from a School District

SACRAMENTO, CALIF. — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - California, Eastern), published as received.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — After a four-day trial, a jury found former Sacramento resident, William A. Sassman, 58, guilty of knowingly engaging in monetary transactions with criminally derived property, U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced.

According to the evidence at trial, in September 2019, the Tukwila School District in Washington mistakenly wired more than $6.5 million into Sassman’s bank account. District employees were duped into sending the funds to Sassman’s account instead of the account of a legitimate construction contractor. 

Sassman then used part of the stolen funds to buy two luxury watches — a Patek Philippe for $195,000 and a Richard Mille for $318,324 — plus other personal items. After the school district discovered the fraud and reported it to Sassman’s bank, the bank froze Sassman’s account and informed Sassman that it had been funded with fraudulent proceeds. Even after knowing the money was stolen, Sassman resold the watches and deposited the resulting checks into an account at another bank in Sacramento.

“The evidence at trial showed that after being told by his bank that this money didn’t belong to him, Sassman nevertheless chose to spend it on high-end watches rather than return it to its rightful owner,” said U.S. Attorney Grant. “Today’s verdict demonstrates that those who knowingly profit from stolen funds will be held accountable.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Veronica M.A. Alegría and Zachary B.L. Malinski are prosecuting the case.

Sassman is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dena Coggins on Sept. 25, 2026. Sassman faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 or up to twice the amount of the laundered money. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.