Donora man pleads guilty to scamming $159,000 from retiree
A Donora man has pleaded guilty to using a mafia-style threat to bilk $159,000 from a retired schoolteacher in Lancaster County.
Yancey Darnell Taylor, 47, pleaded guilty in that county to two counts of felony theft, and he was sentenced by Judge Dennis E. Reinaker to 14 years of probation, online court records show.
Taylor was arrested in May 2017 by the state attorney general蘑菇视频 office on accusations he stole the money from Karen Fedrow of Lancaster while threatening that she would face retaliation from the mafia if she didn鈥檛 give him money, which amounted to the then-69-year-old woman蘑菇视频 life蘑菇视频 savings. He stole the money between February and August 2013, and then gambled it away at The Meadows Casino in North Strabane Township and other area casinos, prosecutors said.
Taylor, who was a standout basketball player at Ringgold High School, told the woman she had to pay the boss before he would earn her returns through investments.
The victim met Taylor in 2012 when she rented him a house she inherited in Westmoreland County. She told investigators she was charmed by him.
In a post on his Facebook account, Taylor said he pleaded guilty at the advice of his attorney. He also indicated he chose not to 鈥渟nitch鈥� on anyone else who might have been involved in the case.
His attorney, Raymond Ellsworth Stout III of Lancaster, said Taylor asked him not to comment about the case.
Taylor is still a member of the board at the Donora-based Mon Valley Sewage Authority, said Thomas A. Salak, its general manager. Taylor is listed as co-chairman of the board at the authority蘑菇视频 website.
Under the terms of his guilty plea, he must immediately pay the victim $37,000 in restitution and $200 a month until his debt to her is erased, court records indicate.
He is to have no contact with the victim, and his supervised probation could be lifted if his fines, court costs and restitution are paid in full in seven years, the plea agreement states.