Former Lawrence County treasurer faces tax charge

Federal agents subpoenaed Gary Felasco’s wage and payroll records in July.

STAFF REPORT

PITTSBURGH — Former Lawrence County Treasurer Gary Felasco has been charged in U.S. District Court with failing to file his 2005 federal income tax return.

Felasco is expected to plead guilty to the charge, said a spokeswoman from the U.S. district attorney’s office. No date has been set yet for the plea.

Felasco was county treasurer from 2003 until August 2006, when he was convicted of stealing $170,000 of taxpayers’ money while he was in office.

He was paroled after serving a year in prison, and the district attorney’s office indicates he now lives in Warren, Pa.

County officials surmised in July that Felasco, 41, was the focus of an income-tax-related investigation after federal agents subpoenaed his wage and payroll records. The county controller’s office and the treasurer’s office both received subpoenas.

Felasco was in his third term as treasurer when he was convicted. His salary was about $45,000 a year.

During investigations into the theft in his office, he was criticized for failing to report to work. The county commissioners removed him from the county tax claim bureau director’s post, an appointed position, in 2004 after discovering he had not paid his own property taxes in several years, according to Vindicator files.

Authorities also had accused him of using his county-issued cell phone to arrange parties for a sex club.