Most of the money held in a bank account owned by a Tamaqua pizza restaurateur convicted of stealing $319,000 from an elderly couple will be put toward restitution.

There is $8,880 in the account, owned by Alfonso Picone, 46, and his mother, according to lawyers for both the defense and prosecution.But the money cannot be seized until all avenues of appeal are exhausted and Picone’s conviction and sentence are upheld, Schuylkill County President Judge William E. Baldwin ruled.On Thursday, Deputy Attorney General Adrian S. Shchuka and Picone’s defense lawyer, Ross M. Miller of Lansdale, conferred quietly several minutes into a hearing to determine whether the money could be taken to repay John Burnard of Lake Hauto.It also came after Baldwin questioned each lawyer closely about laws governing the seizure of money from defendants.Shchuka and Miller, who also conferred with his client, agreed that $6,000 of the money would go toward restitution, and the remainder would go back to Picone’s mother, Maria Picone.A jury on Sept. 22 convicted Picone of befriending and then stealing the money from John and his late wife, Ella Burnard, over the course of 2014.Baldwin on Nov. 28 sentenced Picone to 18 months to five years in state prison, and ordered him to repay the money.Picone is now housed at the state prison at Frackville.His appearance Thursday was a dramatic change from the trial.Gone was the impeccably groomed and confident man in tailored suits.Instead, a thin, unshaven Picone, escorted by sheriff’s deputies, shuffled into the courtroom clad in a bright orange prison jumpsuit, his ankles shackled and his wrists handcuffed.At his trial and sentencing, dozens of family members and supporters packed the courtroom, aggressively blocking photographers and reporters and reacting visibly to testimony.On Thursday, just three people, including a woman with two young children, sat in the seats behind Picone.