Probe of Theft of Pa. Fire Co. Funds Continues

PITTSTON — Luzerne County detectives on Monday got a new search warrant as they continued investigating a former Exeter volunteer fire company treasurer who is suspected of stealing thousands from the department.

The warrant, signed by Magisterial District Judge Alexandra Kokura Kravitz, was not immediately released because detectives had not yet returned the inventory slip. Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis confirmed the warrant was related to the ongoing investigation.

“Additional bank records are being requested from 2007 through 2011 in relation to an investigation of misappropriated funds from Exeter Hose Company No. 1,” Salavantis said.

According to previously filed court documents, fire department members learned after Stephanie McNeil’s ouster that they owed nearly $20,000 to creditors and that she never deposited $3,000 in proceeds generated by the fire company’s annual barbecue chicken dinner.

A report issued by the state auditor general alleged many of the department’s officers at the time — many of the same people leading the fire company, including her husband, the former company president — were not keeping a close enough eye on finances.

McNeil, 33, has not been charged in that case.

Records show she was paroled Sept. 10 after serving about two months for an unrelated theft. In that case, she pleaded guilty in May to two counts of access device fraud and one count each of theft and possessing an access device without permission for using her disabled mother-in-law’s debit card to rack up more than $550 in charges.

In July, she began serving a two- to 12-month jail sentence, although Judge Joseph Sklarosky Jr. authorized her immediate parole upon reaching the minimum sentence.

That case was her second felony conviction. According to court records, McNeil previously pleaded guilty to a felony count of fraudulently obtaining assistance for receiving more than $14,000 in child care benefits by claiming to be a single mother.

570-821-2058, @cvjimhalpin

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