By James Halpin
The Citizens’ Voice
SCRANTON, Pa. — Former Wilkes-Barre Township fire chief John Yuknavich on Thursday pleaded guilty in federal court to a felony count of stealing about $45,000 from his volunteer department.
Yuknavich, 50, entered his plea to a single count of stealing from programs that receive federal funds before U.S. District Judge Edwin M. Kosik. He faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine at sentencing.
The former fire chief declined to comment on his way to enter his plea.
During a brief hearing Thursday morning, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Olshefski laid out the case against Yuknavich, who was accused of skimming from checks from Wilkes-Barre Township intended to cover the fire department’s mortgage and other bills.
From 2008 through 2011, Wilkes-Barre Township gave monthly checks of $3,500 to the fire department for those expenses, she said.
“The township officials assumed that Mr. Yuknavich was using the money for the intended purpose, but there were no checks and balances,” Olshefski said.
Instead of putting the full amount in the bank, Yuknavich, who had control over the department’s finances, deposited only a portion of each check, she said. Almost every month from 2008 through 2011, Yuknavich skimmed from the checks, usually depositing between $2,000 to $2,500 in the bank and taking the rest in cash “for his own personal benefit,” Olshefski said.
When Kosik asked if the prosecution’s allegations were correct, Yuknavich said they were. “How do you plead?” the judge asked.
“Guilty,” Yuknavich said.
The judge allowed Yuknavich to remain free pending sentencing. A date was not immediately set.
Under a plea agreement reached with prosecutors, Yuknavich agreed to resign as chief, although he is still permitted to be a member of the department. He also agreed to pay $45,000 in restitution and is banned from holding any leadership or officer positions in the fire department for five years.
Prosecutors will not recommend a specific sentence, only that it falls within the applicable guidelines. Olshefski said her office thinks the plea agreement “meets the ends of justice.”
When he was hit with the federal charge last month, Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis said her office planned to drop state theft charges against him. Court records indicate that has not yet occurred.
In an unrelated legal matter, Yuknavich was convicted of trespassing earlier this month and ordered to pay a $251 fine after he failed to appear in court. The charge stemmed from a long-simmering feud between Yuknavich and Wilkes-Barre Township resident Joseph Naperkowski, who claimed he saw Yuknavich in his yard on May 1.
Yuknavich and Naperkowski have clashed for years, with Naperkowski recently filing a lawsuit claiming Yuknavich invaded his privacy by mounting a camera aimed at Naperkowski’s house atop the firehouse. In October 2009, Naperkowski filed a defamation lawsuit against Yuknavich after the fire chief accused Naperkowski of threatening to kill him, his mother and his family.
Yuknavich is also under investigation in Hanover Township after allegedly threatening Wilkes-Barre Township police officer Tom Zurawski and former Wilkes-Barre police officer Tino Ninotti. The FBI and Hanover Township police are investigating that incident, which took place at the Fraternal Order of Police social hall earlier this month.
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(c)2014 The Citizens’ Voice (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.)
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