Luzerne church worker sentenced to prison after stealing funds for gambling

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Luzerne church worker sentenced to prison after stealing funds for gambling. Woman wearing sunglasses relaxes in a beach chair on a sandy dune path, smiling while wearing a gray Washington Redskins T-shirt.

A girl from Luzerne County who dealt with funds for an area church will spend time in federal jail after admitting she secretly funneled church cash to fund her gambling habit.

Gail Nossavage, 62, of Harding, Pennsylvania, obtained a 15 month jail sentence after pleading responsible to at least one rely of wire fraud in federal court docket. U.S. District Decide Karoline Mehalchick handed down the sentence December 3, 2025, in Scranton, in line with federal prosecutors.

Luzerne County Lady Sentenced to fifteen Months in Federal Jail For Wire Fraud Scheme@FBIPhiladelphia https://t.co/wvs8FT5YiF

— U.S. Lawyer MDPA (@MDPAnews) March 4, 2026

Investigators say Nossavage labored as an administrative assistant for the church and was trusted with dealing with key monetary duties. Between April 2020 and December 2021, she managed financial collections and was accountable for overseeing deposits tied to church funds. Authorities later decided that the entry allowed her to quietly redirect cash for her personal private use.

Luzerne girl’s playing losses tied to stolen church funds

Prosecutors with the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace for the Center District of Pennsylvania stated the fraud relied on repeated monetary transactions that moved church cash into accounts managed by Nossavage. In accordance with investigators, the exercise continued for greater than a 12 months earlier than it was found.

FBI investigators later reviewed financial institution data and located that Nossavage had made a minimum of 115 deposits into her private checking account utilizing funds that weren’t reliable funds to her. The deposits, authorities stated, concerned cash belonging to the church quite than licensed wages or reimbursements.

Investigators additionally decided that she used church bank cards with out approval from church management. Prosecutors stated among the prices have been internally labeled with descriptions equivalent to “bonuses,” “miscellaneous,” “trip,” and “journey.” The labels helped disguise spending that was not licensed by the church.

Federal authorities stated a major share of the stolen cash finally went towards on-line playing exercise. Data reviewed through the investigation confirmed the church funds have been repeatedly routed into accounts related to playing platforms.

As a part of the sentence, the court docket ordered Nossavage to repay $184,724.68 to cowl the monetary losses brought on by the scheme. Along with the jail time period, she should serve three years of supervised launch after finishing her sentence.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation performed the investigation that uncovered the fraudulent exercise. Assistant U.S. Lawyer Luisa Honora Berti prosecuted the case for the federal authorities.

Prosecutors stated circumstances like this typically happen when a trusted worker has common entry to monetary techniques and inside accounts. With out robust oversight, they stated, fraudulent transactions can proceed for lengthy durations earlier than anybody notices irregularities.

On this case, authorities stated Nossavage’s function overseeing church funds allowed her to repeatedly transfer cash with out quick detection.

Featured picture: Gail Nossavage by way of Fb

The submit Luzerne church worker sentenced to prison after stealing funds for gambling appeared first on ReadWrite.

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