by justin strawser
HARRISBURG - The sentencing date for Thea Tafner's embezzlement case has been changed to May 16, according to federal documents from the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
The hearing will take place at 10 a.m. that Monday in courtroom 4 on the eighth floor of the Federal Building, 228 Walnut St.
Tafner, the former chairperson for American Hose Ambulance Committee, pleaded guilty in January to embezzling between $1 million and $2.5 million over a 10-year period intended for American Hose Chemical and Fire Company, Mount Carmel.
The maximum penalty for her offense is 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, restitution and a maximum term of supervised release of up to three years.
In the plea agreement, the government can use other assets or income belonging to Tafner to satisfy the restitution obligations; however, funds held in Tafner's Public School Employees Retirement system account, which she acquired from her now-resigned position as Line Mountain Elementary principal and her earlier years as a teacher, will not be used to pay restitution. The money is protected by state law because the criminal charges against Tafner are not connected to her school job.
Tafner's attorney, Laurence C. Kress, of Duncannon, had previously stated that Tafner's reason for the theft will be addressed at the sentencing hearing.
Mount Carmel Borough Council, American Hose and the fire company's former billing agency Cornerstone Adminisystems Inc., Cumberland County, will file victim impact reports against Tafner.