HARRISBURG - The lien placed on Thea Tafner's Rush Township property by the Department of Justice was not executed as a response to any motions by Tafner's attorney to avoid paying the initial lump sum of the court-ordered restitution for her embezzlement of $1.8 million from the Mount Carmel American Hose and Chemical Fire Company.
"The government did not seek to forfeit these properties because there was insufficient equity in the properties to meet government standards," said Heidi Havens, media and community outreach consultant in the U.S. Attorney's Office, Middle District of Pennsylvania.
Placing a lien on real property owned by a defendant who is subject to restitution order is standard practice, she said.
A lien is defined as the legal claim of one person upon the property of another person to secure the payment of a debt or the satisfaction of an obligation.
"Nonetheless, if the defendant wants to sell the properties at some future date and she has not fulfilled her restitution obligation, then the amount of any outstanding restitution is a lien on the property that must be satisfied (that is, paid) for a buyer to have a clear title to the property," said Havens.
There is no expected value because Tafner has not listed the properties for sale nor has she sold them, and it is not known how much, if any, restitution will still be owed at the time the properties are listed for sale, she said.
The government placed the lien on the property at 498 Elysburg Road, Danville, located on Route 54 between Elysburg and Danville, near Union Corner Road, on July 27.
Tafner was sentenced to 30 months in prison for embezzling more $1.8 million from the Mount Carmel organization over a 10-year period, and was ordered to pay restitution, which included paying a $124,869 initial lump sum within 60 days of her May 16 sentencing.
In June, her attorney, Laurence C. Kress, Duncannon, filed a request to strike his client's obligation to pay the lump sum. A federal judge ordered her to deposit the money into a court registry, where it will remain untouched until the federal Court of Appeals makes a determination.
She is currently in the Federal Prison Camp in Alderson, W.Va. When she is released, she must pay restitution on a schedule of no less than $250 a month.