Defense casts doubt on Conti

The treasurer's employees say they saw nothing suspicious.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR PENNSYLVANIA BUREAU
FRANKLIN, Pa. -- A distraught Ducky Conti told his friends he didn't know how his estranged wife, Gloria, could afford an apartment, new furniture and -- the most insulting of all -- a larger TV.
Defense witnesses in the theft trial of Lawrence County Treasurer Gary Felasco pointed the finger at Felasco's deputy treasurer, Gloria Conti, who is the star witness for the prosecution.
Testimony ended Thursday afternoon, and closing statements and jury deliberation were expected to begin today.
Gloria Conti told jurors Tuesday that Felasco threatened her job if she didn't help him take money from the office. Conti said that she would take money from the front drawer and vault and give it to Felasco in envelopes and that she would also take cash to pay Felasco's overdue cable bill and overdrafts on his personal bank account.
She said she covered the missing cash by substituting mailed tax checks for the cash in the daily bank deposits. Prosecutors contend those who paid by check were never credited and were eventually deleted from the county computer system to cover up the theft.
Conti was given immunity from prosecution in exchange for her testimony.
Her estranged husband also testified Tuesday that she would come home disgruntled over what she was expected to do at work and that he questioned Felasco about it twice.
Contradictions
But Conti's friends tell a different story.
Rob Ratkovich, New Castle city council president and maintenance director of the Lawrence County Housing Authority, said Ducky Conti told him he didn't know why Gloria Conti was making accusations against Felasco.
"Ducky said he knew and she had known Gary didn't do this," Ratkovich said.
Ducky Conti also complained about his wife's spending after she left him, according to Ratkovich.
"He said he didn't know how she could afford to buy furniture and she had a better TV than he had," Ratkovich said.
Nick DeRosa, assistant superintendent of the New Castle Area School District, echoed Ratkovich.
"He was upset her TV was larger than his," DeRosa said.
The defense furthered its theory about Gloria Conti by having certified public accountant Ken Herman examine her bank records.
Herman said there were about $15,000 worth of cash deposits in Conti's checking account in 2004.
Gloria Conti and her children, Tara and Donald Conti III, testified that money came from part-time jobs the two college-aged children held in the last few years. Gloria Conti said neither child had a bank account and they would give her their cashed paychecks to write checks for their credit cards, cellular telephones and other bills.
Employees' testimony
In other testimony, Felasco's past and present employees testified that they saw nothing suspicious in the office.
Most seemed to imply that Felasco wasn't in the office long enough to appear suspicious.
"He was in the office a couple times a week," said Megan Caffro, a six-year county employee who worked in both the tax claim and treasurer's office.
Conti also seems to have escaped suspicion of the other employees.
Most of her co-workers said they saw her do nothing unusual, except to take mail home once to sort.
Former employee Yvonne Joseph is the only one who indicated that Conti may have taken mail home on a regular basis. Joseph worked in the county treasurer's office for 23 years before moving to the Lawrence County Housing Authority, where Felasco and Ducky Conti sit on the board of directors.
Joseph said Gloria Conti was not pleasant to work with.
"It was like walking on eggshells," she said.
What Conti said
During Conti's testimony she said that Joseph approached her and told her that she understood what Conti was doing in taking the money for Felasco.
"'You're only doing your job,'" Conti said, quoting Joseph over the theft.
When questioned about the statement, Joseph called Conti a liar.
Deputy Treasurer Cathy Toscano Baker has been the only employee to verify Conti's claims contending she noticed cash missing from the vault and said she heard Felasco tell Conti to take cash to his bank to cover overdrafts, which Baker assumed came from the county till.
cioffi@vindy.com