LAWRENCE COUNTY Treasurer questioned but quiet

The district attorney wants Felasco to be removed from public office.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR PENNSYLVANIA STAFF
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Prosecutors spent 21/2 hours questioning Lawrence County Treasurer Gary Felasco, but they got few answers.
District Attorney Matthew Mangino said Felasco frequently asserted his constitutional right against self-incrimination during a deposition Tuesday afternoon.
"We are going to look at the transcript and see if we need to get the court to direct him to answer our questions," Mangino said.
Felasco was ordered to submit to questioning by a Lawrence County judge for a lawsuit seeking to remove him from public office.
The civil lawsuit, filed earlier this month by Mangino, contends that Felasco is no longer a county resident and that he has abandoned his job as county treasurer. Felasco also is a member of the county housing authority.
The district attorney's office filed the lawsuit in an effort to have Felasco removed from the treasurer's post and the housing authority board.
Mangino contends Felasco has forfeited his right to maintain his elected title because he now lives in Ohio with his wife and children. Mangino said county code requires elected county officials to live in the county.
Felasco's status
Felasco is in the second year of his third term as treasurer. He continues collecting an annual salary, including a benefits package, of nearly $60,000 from the county even though he has been absent from work for weeks at a time.
Criminal investigations being conducted by state police and the state attorney general are ongoing.
Felasco has been accused of misusing his office, and he has repeatedly been criticized for not going to work.
County commissioners removed him from the county tax claim bureau director's post, an appointed position, last year after discovering he had not paid his own taxes in several years.
According to results of two separate audits, nearly $50,000 in county tax payments made in 2003 remains unaccounted for, having never been deposited into the county's general checking account.
Additionally, stays put on Felasco's properties and properties of others were reported as improper. County officials reported Felasco's county-assigned cell phones were used to make personal calls and as a contact to provide directions to adult-oriented parties planned through an Internet Web site.
cioffi@vindy.com