SCRANTON, Pa.—A former employee of the now-defunct W.O.D. FCU has been sentenced to eight months in prison after admitting she stole more than $16,000 from the small $2.5-million Pennsylvania credit union and then falsely reported it as an armed robbery, according to WBRE.
Federal prosecutors said Nicole Hilstolsky, 48, also was sentenced to two years of supervised release.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania said Hilstolsky pleaded guilty in December to one count of theft by a credit union employee. Prosecutors said she admitted that on Oct. 15, 2018, while working at W.O.D. Federal Credit Union, she took $16,247 from the teller drawer and safe and then blamed the theft on two armed, unidentified robbers.
According to prosecutors, Hilstolsky called 911 and lied to responding investigators, claiming the Forty Fort-area credit union had been robbed. Authorities said she later admitted she had hidden the money inside the credit union so she could remove it safely days later.
W.O.D. was merged into UFCW Community Federal Credit Union on Feb. 1, 2019.