Felasco gets venue change for trial

By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR PENNSYLVANIA BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Gary Felasco has been granted a change of venue for the most recent theft charges he is facing.
Felasco, 39, of New Castle, will stand trial in Venango County on charges that he cashed in a $6,175.74 certificate of deposit belonging to the National Association of Wolves Club, a service organization with chapters, called dens, in eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania, for his own use.
He has been charged with unlawful taking and theft by failure to make required disposition.
Felasco, Lawrence County's elected treasurer, was found guilty of theft, embezzlement and other charges in a trial last May. Prosecutors say he took more than $40,000 from the county treasury for his own use. Felasco had also sought change of venue in that case, and the trial was held in Franklin, Pa., which is in Venango County.
He will be sentenced on those charges at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday in Franklin before visiting senior Judge Michael J. Wherry.
Another charge involving the violation of the Pennsylvania Ethics Act, alleging Felasco did not pay property taxes on his private residence for four years, is also pending. That charge was filed with the initial theft charges, but later separated.
Senior Deputy Attorney General Anthony Krastek said he intends to ask that that case be listed for trial immediately.
Krastek said he also intends to ask on Tuesday to have Felasco removed from his elected post as treasurer -- something required under state law when an elected official is convicted of a felony.