Former Centerville fire officials waive theft case to court
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CHARLEROI – A Mon Valley couple accused of stealing $105,000 from a volunteer fire department while they controlled its bank account waived their criminal cases Tuesday to Washington County Court.
The decision allowed Thomas S. Yuratovich, 42, and Rachel Lynne Sargent, 40, both of Vestaburg, to avoid facing a preliminary hearing that day before District Judge Larry Hopkins in Charleroi.
The couple were arrested Dec. 16 on accusations they enjoyed gambling trips to area casinos, vacations aboard cruise liners and making thousands of dollars in other purchases at the expense of the Denbo Vesta No. 6 Volunteer Fire Department in Centerville Borough.
Yuratovich served as the department’s president, while Sargent was its treasurer, when the money went missing between February 2013 and March.
The couple were dropped as members of the fire department in March, a month after its secretary went to local police to report she suspected them of embezzling money, the affidavit supporting the criminal charges shows.
They are both free on $250,000 bonds facing charges of theft, unauthorized access device use, conspiracy and tampering with evidence filed by Centerville police.
Their attorney, David J. DiCarlo, petitioned the county court Dec. 22 to lower their bonds, and he is awaiting a hearing date on the motion, court records show.