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Carl Salitis charged with stealing $100,000 from Luzerne County office.
WILKES-BARRE – First, Carl Salitis lost his job.
Now, he might lose his home.
The former employee of the Luzerne County Record of Deeds office pleaded no contest Tuesday to felony charges stemming from his suspected theft of more than $100,000 from the office.
And Assistant District Attorney Jarrett Ferentino wants to make sure all of the money is paid back to the county.
“It’s taxpayer money,” Ferentino said. “Basically we’re all victims in this case.”
Some of the money will be recouped from Salitis’ pension and unused vacation time, Ferentino and Salitis’ attorney, Frank Nocito, said. But Ferentino said prosecutors will try to seize Salitis’ home and any other property to recover the rest, if needed.
“We’re going to fight to get every penny of that money back,” he said.
Salitis, 47, of Throop, entered the plea on charges of theft and tampering with public records.
A no-contest plea means a defendant is not admitting guilt, but has decided against fighting the charges.
Investigators learned of the thefts after Recorder of Deeds Mary K. Dysleski noticed a shortage of funds in the office in January 2005. She believed another employee, Robert Pritchard, was responsible for the shortage and contacted investigators.
Luzerne County detectives Gary Capitano and Dan Beky met with Pritchard.
He admitted stealing money from the office.
But an audit showed more than $200,000 had been missing from the office between 1998 and 2005.
And Pritchard said he didn’t steal all of it. It was later determined that Pritchard stole more than $51,000.
Salitis was later charged with stealing more than $100,000.
Exactly how much Salitis will have to pay back is still undetermined. It is expected to be figured out by his January sentencing.
Salitis, who had worked in the office since 1982, has denied stealing the money.
Arrest papers say he told investigators any financial shortages attributed to him stem from bad bookkeeping.
But Ferentino said Salitis’ position in the office and the findings of the audit properly cast the blame on him.
“He cooked the books for so long, that’s how he got burned,” Ferentino said. “The buck stopped with Salitis. And it just stopped. He didn’t distribute it.”
Court of Common Pleas Judge Mark Ciavarella will sentence Salitis in January. Ferentino said he will leave the sentence up to Ciavarella, but take steps to make sure the money is paid back.
Nocito could not be reached after Salitis’ plea Tuesday. Salitis remains free.
He was initially suspended from his position in the office but was later terminated.
Pritchard, 47, of McGarragher Street in Wilkes-Barre, has pleaded guilty and was sentenced in May to six to 12 months of house arrest. He forfeited 100 percent of his county pension to make restitution and had already paid back 70 percent of the stolen funds when he was sentenced.
On Tuesday, Pritchard’s attorney, Peter Moses, said his client is still making restitution payments.
Pritchard was initially suspended from his position before resigning.