Former Schuylkill County Clerk of Court Stephen Lukach will not be changing his guilty plea; the change of plea proceeding scheduled in federal court is a formal entering of his plea agreement, on the record.

Lukach, 68, 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. He now must formally plead guilty before a Judge, changing his initial “not guilty” plea to “guilty.”

The Change of Plea is scheduled for Aug. 8 at the William J. Nealon Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse, Scranton. During the proceeding, U.S. District Judge Robert D. Mariani will make sure Lukach is entering the guilty plea voluntarily and inform him about the normal sentencing guidelines.

Typically, a Judgment and sentencing hearing is held about 30 days after the change of plea hearing, but Lukach could be sentenced at the change of plea hearing.