Felasco's prison sentence leaves a lot to be desired

Anyone hearing Senior Visiting Judge Michael Wherry's comments as he sentenced former Lawrence County Treasurer Gary Felasco would have concluded that the corrupt public official was being put away for a very long time.
Anyone paying attention to what the senior deputy attorney general, Anthony Krastek, had to say about Felasco's lack of remorse would have thought that only the maximum prison sentence was acceptable for the the pariah.
Regretfully, however, the words from Judge Wherry and prosecutor Krastek were a lot harsher than the sentence the ex-treasurer received. Indeed, if he behaves himself in prison and helps officials understand how he was able to divert public funds for his personal use, he could be considered for parole in a year.
That's a crime.
We applaud Lawrence County Commissioner Dan Vogler for urging the court to give Felasco the maximum sentence. Vogler spoke on behalf of the crime's victims, the residents of Lawrence County.
"The taxpayers' faith in county government has been severely shaken," the commissioner said last Tuesday in a courtroom in Franklin, Pa. "The greed and dishonesty shown here has had a negative impact on people's attitudes toward county government. On behalf of the taxpayers of Lawrence County, I say to the defendant, 'good riddance.'"
Theft and other crimes
In May, soon after a jury found him guilty of theft, embezzlement, conflict of interest and misapplication of entrusted property of government or financial institutions, we noted in an editorial that Felasco faced a prison sentence of up to five to 10 years for the most serious of the charges. And, we argued, anything less than 10 years would be a travesty of justice.
The one to seven years in state prison is not just a travesty; it's a disgrace. He isn't going to serve seven years. White-collar criminals, especially those in government, rarely get the punishment they deserve.
As for the $500,000-plus in fines and court costs he was ordered to pay, the county intends to recover its money through the bonding company that insured Felasco and through his county pension fund, which was frozen by the judge.
But seeing as how public dollars are used to secure bonds for officeholders and certain other government employees, getting the bonding company to cough up the money doesn't punish Felasco, not unless the company then goes after him.
The bottom line is that bonds secured for public officials are designed to protect the public treasury from mistakes made in the conduct of official business, not to pay for criminal behavior.
We understand the need to make Lawrence County government financially whole, but it should be Felasco who should be coming up with the money, not the bonding company.
For almost three years, we have watched this sordid affair unfold, have witnessed the arrogance of this individual whom the voters so trusted that they elected him to three terms in office, and have seen him feign remorse only after he realized he had spit the hook with the prison sentence handed down by Judge Wherry.
Felasco says he hopes to become a productive member of society. To which we say, hold on to your wallets.