By JESSICA SIEFF

Niles Daily Star

A Niles man was sentenced to 180 days in jail, three years probation, 500 hours of community service and restitution after being convicted of using his “position of authority” to take money from a local non-profit organization for his own use.

David Mangena, 42, was sentenced Monday on charges of embezzlement greater than $1,000 and less than $20,000 from Polly’s Place, a non-profit domestic abuse and women’s shelter in Niles.

“There’s going to be a lot of restitution that needs to be paid,” Berrien County prosecutor Mary Malesky said.

That exact number was not available Monday but Judge Scott Schofield ordered Mangena to pay restitution in an amount no more than $15,000.

Malesky also challenged a suggestion that Mangena be ordered to serve only 23 hours of community service based on his “abuse of his position of trust and authority” with the organization.

Though she acknowledged this was Mangena’s first offense, she described the crime as “pretty abhorrent” and recommended jail time be included in the sentence.

Mangena reportedly used some of the money he took from the shelter to pay employees for his own business.

Mangena addressed the court, saying he wished “to express my sorrow to this community and Polly’s Place,” and his own family.

He added he hoped to “demonstrate how much I am shamed by my poor decisions.”

Mangena said his actions and subsequent arrest have had a strong impact on his children.

“My children suffer,” he said. “And are still suffering.”

Hoping for a second chance to “make things right,” Mangena listened as Schofield discussed the need to face consequences of one’s actions.

“I can see you’re a man of faith,” Schofield said. “As a person of faith, you know that we all do things we shouldn’t… Faith does not relieve us from the earthly consequences to our poor choices.”