In a negotiated agreement, former Schuylkill County Clerk of Courts Stephen Lukach Jr. entered guilty pleas to one count of mail fraud and one count of falsification of records, during a hearing at 11 a.m. Thursday at the William J. Nealon Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse, Scranton.

According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, Lukach served as the Clerk of Courts for Schuylkill County for approximately 27 years. In 2013-2014, county auditors with the Controller’s Office began an in depth examination of the Clerk’s Office and discovered misappropriation of funds by Lukach. An FBI investigation ensued and while the audit was going on, Lukach interfered with the audit by stealing mail that was sent to banks, forged records and sent the fake bank records to the Controller’s Office. Lukach did so in an effort to conceal that he was taking funds from various accounts for his own personal purposes, such as paying a family member’s credit card bill, paying for meals, making car payments, and other personal expenses.

The maximum penalty Lukach could receive is 40 years in prison and up to $500,000 in fines. Sentencing is slated for the week of Nov. 11.

Lukach, 69, of Nesquehoning, resigned in 2014, after County Controller Christy Joy turned up irregularities in the Clerk of Court’s records from 2012. A federal grand jury indicted him in July 2018 on 20 counts of mail and wire fraud, and manufacturing records to obstruct an investigation. When he was first arraigned, he pleaded not guilty, then in March 2019 he signed a guilty plea agreement.

Thursday’s proceeding included a 75-minute review of the evidence. He is represented by public defender Leo A. Latella.