Ex-Pennsylvania court clerk sentenced for mail fraud
SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) — Schuylkill County’s former clerk of courts is going to federal prison after he tried to cover his tracks when an audit uncovered a misappropriation of funds. A judge on Thursday sentenced 70-year-old Steven Lukach Jr. of Nesquehoning to 27 months behind bars for mail fraud and falsification of records. He also ordered Lukach to pay nearly $16,000 in restitution. Lukach served approximately 27 years as court clerk in the Pennsylvania county when an audit in 2013 uncovered money was misappropriated. Federal prosecutors say Lukach stole mail that was sent to banks, forged records and sent fake bank records in a bid to conceal that he was taking funds from various accounts for his own personal purposes.