For stealing more than $200,000 from her fellow Pine Grove area outdoors enthusiasts over almost four years, Stacy M. Kassab must spend at least 11 1/2 months in prison and far longer on probation, a Schuylkill County judge ruled Monday.
Judge Cyrus Palmer Dolbin sentenced Kassab, 38, of Pine Grove, to serve 11 1/2 to 23 months in Schuylkill County Prison and an additional seven years on probation, which will give her time to repay the Pine Grove Fish & Game Protective Association the $211,526 restitution she owes it.
"It was obviously a significant, ongoing pilfering of her pals," First Assistant District Attorney William C. Reiley said after the sentencing hearing.
In addition to that restitution, Dolbin's sentence also mandates that Kassab pay costs and $50 to the Criminal Justice Enhancement Account and submit a DNA sample to law enforcement authorities.
Kassab had pleaded guilty on Sept. 26 to theft, receiving stolen property and theft by failure to make required disposition.
State police at Schuylkill Haven charged Kassab with taking $211,526 from the Pine Grove Fish & Game Protective Association, 7 Geary Wolfe Road, from Jan. 1, 2008, until Oct. 16, 2011.
Police said Kassab, who served as the group's treasurer, did not make required cash deposits in the association's account at Fulton Bank and never conducted an audit of the group.
"She knew all these people, which makes it all the more stinging, and to hear her cry poverty shows the meaningless reasons for her to have stolen it in the first place," Reiley said.
Reiley had asked Dolbin to sentence Kassab to serve 15 to 30 months in a state correctional institution, but neither he nor the club was unhappy with the result, especially the long probationary period the judge imposed on the defendant.
"The club is satisfied that an equally significant sentence was rendered by the court, which fashioned enough supervision to hopefully have the remaining (restitution) paid before she's out of the system," he said.
Nicholas A. Quinn, Pottsville, Kassab's lawyer, could not be reached for comment after Monday's hearing.Defendant: Stacy M. Kassab
Age: 38
Residence: Pine Grove
Crimes committed: Theft, receiving stolen property and theft by failure to make required disposition
Prison sentence: 11 1/2 to 23 months, plus seven years probation