Nun Stole Over $800,000 to Support Gambling Habit, Prosecutors Say Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper has agreed to plead guilty to charges that she embezzled the money while she was the principal at a Catholic school in Torrance, Calif., prosecutors said. Mary Margaret Kreuper, principal of St. James Catholic School in Torrance, Calif., until 2018, was charged with stealing more than $835,000 in school funds to pay for personal expenses, including gambling trips.Credit...Scott Varley/Torrance Daily Breeze, via Getty Images As a Catholic nun, Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper had taken a vow of poverty. But this week, prosecutors said Sister Mary Margaret, 79, had agreed to plead guilty to stealing more than $835,000 from a Catholic elementary school to support a gambling habit and to pay for other personal expenses.