Former New Castle official sentenced on fraud charges

Staff report

PITTSBURGH, Pa.

A former New Castle, Pa., community leader was sentenced Tuesday for his role in defrauding a nonprofit housing agency, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Pittsburgh said. Nicholas DeRosa, 65, of Cascade Street in New Castle was sentenced to 41 months in prison and $300,000 in restitution in federal court in Pittsburgh.

DeRosa, a former city council member, retired assistant superintendent of the city schools, trustee of Slippery Rock University and member of the Lawrence County Planning Commission, pleaded guilty in October to one count each of bank fraud, mail fraud and money-laundering conspiracy.

He was charged in connection with a scheme that inflated appraisals of seven properties owned by him, his relatives or friends, the U.S. attorney’s office said. Those properties were sold to Affordable Housing of Lawrence County, which was looking for properties to fix and rent or sell to elderly or disabled people. The scheme began in 2004, the U.S. attorney said.

Also involved in the scheme was Castle Realty Appraisal Services on Wilmington Road, which inflated the worth of the houses in an application for a loan to buy the houses, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

Robert Ratkovich, a former council president and housing authority maintenance employee; and Gary Felasco, former Lawrence County treasurer and head of the Lawrence County Housing Authority, were also involved, the U.S. attorney said.