ERIE, Pa. - A resident of Union City, Pennsylvania has been sentenced in federal court to 18 months in jail, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release, and was ordered to make restitution in the amount of $203,174.25 on her conviction of mail fraud, Acting United States Attorney Soo C. Song announced today.
United States District Judge David S. Cercone imposed the sentence on Cheryl R. Capela 60.
According to information presented to the court, from July 2013 through July 2016, while employed as the Borough Secretary for the Borough of Union City, Capela took advantage of her access to the Borough’s checks to write Borough checks to pay her ballooning personal credit card
bills. She also used the Borough credit card for numerous unauthorized personal expenses and cash withdrawals. Capela manipulated internal Borough of Union City paperwork to hide her unauthorized personal expenditures that she made with Borough of Union City funds. As a result of Capela’s scheme, the Borough of Union City suffered an overall total loss of $203,174.25
Assistant United States Attorney Christian A. Trabold prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
Acting United States Attorney Song commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Capela.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
