Published: Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Felasco's parole prompts criticism
Some elected county officials were upset over the parole board's decision.
By LAURE CIOFFI
NEW CASTLE, Pa. — Former Lawrence County Treasurer Gary Felasco will walk out of prison after serving a year.
His victims and other county officials were notified Monday by certified mail that Felasco will be released on or about Aug. 1 — a year from his sentencing in Venango County where his trial was moved because of intense pretrial publicity.
Felasco's victims are not happy about the decision.
"I think it's a miscarriage of justice. I think it sends the wrong message about stealing from the people of Lawrence County. If it was up to me, he'd be making license plates until 2013," said Lawrence County Commissioner Steve Craig.
What he did
The three-time elected county treasurer was sentenced to one to seven years in state prison after being found guilty of theft, embezzlement and other charges during a weeklong trial. He has been serving his sentence at the State Correctional Institute at Albion, near Erie, Pa. He will remain on parole for the length of his original sentence maximum through 2013.
Felasco, 40, took money from the county coffers for his personal use. Pennsylvania State Police looked at a three-month period and found that more than $44,000 in tax dollars was not deposited into county bank accounts under Felasco's tenure. The judge decided at sentencing that Felasco likely stole more than $171,000 and then the judge trebled the restitution and damage costs to about $500,000.
One of the conditions of Felasco's parole is that he get a job and repay the money.
A request to serve his parole in Ohio has apparently been denied. The letter sent to Felasco's victims from the Pennsylvania Office of the Victim Advocate states Felasco will serve his parole in Pennsylvania, but does not give a specific location.
Parole conditions
Among the conditions of his parole is that he have no contact with Gloria Conti. Conti was the second deputy treasurer in Lawrence County and the witness who provided the bulk of the information about Felasco's misdeeds at his trial. Conti was fired from her job when Treasurer Ron Patrick took over in April.
"I hope he upholds his parole and has no contact with me," Conti said Monday. She refused to comment further.
Conti testified at trial that Felasco would instruct her to take money from the safe or cash drawer and use it to cover his bank overdrafts and pay his overdue cable television bills. She even drove him to a used car lot where he bought a conversion van with county money. Conti was given immunity from prosecution in exchange for her testimony.
Unhappy residents
When the issue of Felasco's parole came up in March, county residents started a letter-writing campaign to ask that parole be denied. The office of the victim advocate would not say how many letters arrived, but did note the number was substantial.
The board of probation and parole, however, did not note those letters in its board decision.
The decision, instead, gave reasons for parole including that Felasco has accepted responsibility for and stated remorse for the offenses, received a positive recommendation from the department of corrections and had good behavior in prison.
Nate Bortner, board of probation and parole spokesman, said Monday he could not comment on the decision because Felasco had not been formally notified of the decision.
As part of the process, Felasco's victims received notification first.
"I think it's an outrageous decision and it's a slap in the face of the taxpayers of this community. I strongly, totally disagree with this decision," Commissioner Dan Vogler said Monday.
Commissioner Ed Fosnaught is on vacation and could not be reached to comment.
Lawrence County District Attorney John Bongivengo said he was not surprised by the decision because nonviolent offenders are usually paroled at their minimum sentence date.
"But in his case, he should have spent a little longer because he's a public official placed in a position of trust," Bongivengo said.
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