Fidela “Del” Caparas, the Filipino-American bookkeeper serving jail time for stealing over $8 million from a Manhattan publishing firm, has been released on parole after serving the minimum six years of her sentence, the Filipino Reporter has learned.

Caparas was released from Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in upstate New York on May 4, two days after she made her initial appearance before the parole board, according to Scott Steinhardt, spokesman of the New York State Division of Parole.

Her release was first reported in the Reporter in its Jan. 27-Feb. 2, 2006 issue, “Caparas may be released in May.”

“The board took into consideration Ms. Caparas’ behavior and how she performed in programs and services while incarcerated,” Steinhardt said.

A well-known philanthropist and entertainment producer in the Filipino-American community, Caparas’ arrest in 2000 grabbed headlines.

She was sentenced six to 18 years behind bars after pleading guilty to two counts of grand larceny in the first degree.

She spent jail time at Rikers Island before moving to the state federal prison in 2001.

The former East Brunswick, N.J. resident headed to Richmond County on Staten Island, N.Y., where her husband and two children are now reportedly residing.

The Division of Parole said Caparas will be under parole supervision until May 2, 2018 and will be required to report to her parole officer once a week.

“Ms. Caparas is required to seek and maintain employment, or academic or vocational program,” Steinhardt told the Reporter. “She has to submit to drug testing as determined by the parole officer, must abide by the curfew established by the parole officer.”

“In addition, the parole officer will also do unannounced home visits to her, or check her by phone,” he added.

A friend of Caparas’, who requested anonymity, said she and others will arrange to visit Caparas at home and formally welcome her back to society.

“All of us make mistakes,” the friend said. “But all of us, including Del, deserve a chance to correct those mistakes and start life all over again.”

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said Caparas, a native of Cavite, Philippines, gave millions of dollars to friends and charitable causes.

The money, the D.A. said, was stolen from Harris Publications, a weaponry and security magazine publisher, where Caparas worked from 1970 until her arrest in 2000.

As head bookkeeper, Caparas was in charge of the payroll and expenses for the entire company.

Prosecutors charged that Caparas began writing company checks made out to herself on more than 50 occasions, for amounts ranging from $15,000 to $75,000.

In last year’s interview with the Reporter, Caparas said, if released on parole, she will do her best to be a productive member of society and will devote the rest of her life to her family, whom she said she had “neglected because I was overwhelmed by my friends who were my priority at the time.”