A former employee of The Snackery admitted Thursday in court to stealing more than $100,000 from the now-shuttered Rye bakeshop.
Just weeks after the trendy bakery announced its abrupt closure, Paul DiPietro, 39, pleaded guilty to grand larceny, for stealing roughly $105,000 from the bakery over a year-long span, according to Westchester County District Attorney Susan Cacace.
Between 2021 and 2022, DiPietro, of White Plains, stole from The Snackery by adding unapproved salary increases to his biweekly paycheck, using the bakery’s credit card to make personal charges, and stealing company funds to pay his own American Express bill.
“Small businesses are the lifeblood of our county’s economy, and they often have the fewest resources to defend themselves against fraudulent conduct,” Cacace said in a released statement. “That Mr. DiPietro targeted his then-employer, a beloved bake shop in the Rye community, for his misdeeds is deeply troubling.”
His sentencing is scheduled for April 9.
DiPietro’s arrest in July 2023 — he turned himself in to Rye police — was the result of an 11-month investigation involving detectives with the Rye PD and the county DA’s office.
That wasn’t DiPietro’s first run-in with the law. In July 2020, he was linked to social media posts that were reportedly described as “transphobic, racist and hateful,” while employed at Cherry Lawn Farmers Market in New Rochelle.
He was re-arrested the following month when police recovered surveillance footage showing DiPietro entering the closed market, located at 815 Weaver St., and taking roughly $500 from the register. He was charged with burglary.
Thursday’s guilty plea came shortly after The Snackery owner Sara Leand made the surprising announcement that she was closing the bakery café to “devote full energy to my family.”
The popular Purchase Street bakeshop drew customers from across the area, including reality TV star Bethenny Frankel.
“This is the best bakery I’ve ever seen in my whole life,” Frankel, a nearby Greenwich resident gushed on an Instagram post in October 2024 that showed her perusing The Snackery’s treats. “This is insane.”
The shop’s closing marked the end of a nearly 18-year culinary odyssey for Leand, who sold her original creations wholesale for a decade before operating retail locations first in Larchmont and then in Rye.
“This decision comes with deep emotion and reflection,” Leand wrote in her Jan. 5 announcement on Instagram. “This past year has brought significant life challenges, and with loss and change comes a new perspective.
“When you lose your parents, and you are a parent yourself, you begin to see life through a different lens.”
