Sunday, May 21, 2006
For being found guilty of theft, embezzlement, conflict of interest and misapplication of entrusted property of government or financial institutions, Lawrence County Treasurer Gary Felasco faces a prison sentence of up to five to 10 years for the most serious of the charges.
Anything less than 10 years would be a travesty of justice. The other charges carry lesser prison terms.
Jurors in the five-day trial in Franklin, Venango County, Pa., took less than three hours to find Felasco guilty. In other words, the panel of eight women and four men saw him for what he is: A corrupt elected official who has contributed to the public's distrust of government.
Senior Visiting Judge Michael J. Wherry, praised by both sides for his handling of this highly publicized case, will sentence the county treasurer on Aug. 1. We have no doubt that Wherry will do the right thing. After all, he was present when the details of Felasco's criminality and his violation of the public trust came to light during the trial.
Last September, we urged Lawrence County officials to seek a state legislative remedy to Felasco's continuing to hold the position of treasurer. He had not been showing up for work and had moved out of Lawrence County. We renew that call.
We recognize that it's a long shot, but we have been consistent in our position that there is no room for crooked public officials in government.
Access to the office
It does not matter that Felasco can only go to the office accompanied by his lawyer, Jim Ross, or the county sheriff. The very fact that he does have access and could well be in the same room as Gloria Conti, his second deputy treasurer, is unacceptable. During the trial, Atty. Ross tried to blame Conti for all the unlawful actions in the office.
Felasco was accused of stealing $45,000 from county taxpayers. Police contend that he used Conti to remove cash payments made to his office, and then had her substitute mailed checks in the daily receipts for cash to hide the truth.
Those taxpayers who mailed checks, but were never credited, were later deleted from the system at the county tax claim bureau where he was the appointed director.
While the criminal trial focused on this scam, there is still the matter of an audit of the treasurer's office that found a total of $286,000 missing between March 2000 and December 2003. Felasco has been in office for 10 years.
And last month, he was arrested for the alleged theft of $6,175 from the National Wolves Association. He had served as treasurer of the association.
Finally, there is the charge stemming from his failure to pay property taxes on his home since 2000. The Vindicator revealed this violation of the law. The story led to his removal as the county tax claim bureau director.