Deerfield man pleads guilty to bilking children's charity

A 45-year-old Deerfield man who was indicted on federal fraud charges just last week has already agreed to plead guilty to one count of wire fraud and will be sentenced in August.

Stuart Nitzkin, who is the former executive director of the Northfield-based Israel Sport Center for the Disabled, is accused of defrauding the charity out of more than $800,000, prosecutors said.

According to court records, Nitzkin used funds from the charity to cover personal expenses and make payments on his personal credit card.

Last week, Nitzkin's attorney said his client had already settled the "grievances" with the charity's board of directors about his "mishandling" of funds.

Prosecutors accused Nitzkin of using charity funds to cover "luxury vacations" for his family to Las Vegas, Florida, Ireland and Puerto Rico.

He is also accused of starting his own company that supplies goods and services to a camp with no connection to the charity he led and charging expenses from that business to the charity "knowing that he was not entitled to use" the organization's funds to pay his business expenses, according to court papers.

Prosecutors also said Nitzkin reimbursed a catering company, operated by a "personal friend," with charity funds and misrepresented to the charity board how much the catering company had been paid.

His sentencing date is slated for Aug. 3. He faces a maximum prison sentence of 20 years behind bars.