Man Ordered to Pay More than $30K Restitution for Stealing from Employer

CLEARFIELD – A former plant manager charged with stealing from his employer was ordered to pay more than $30,000 in restitution Monday in Clearfield County Court.

Patrick Francis Tekely, 58, of 74 Tekely Lane, Ramey, pleaded guilty to theft by unlawful taking for taking aluminum, copper and other metals from Pace Precision Products Inc.  He was sentenced by Judge Paul E. Cherry to six months to one year in jail plus three years consecutive probation. He was ordered to pay $27,591 in restitution to the company and $577.40 to G. C. Scrap Metals in Osceola Mills.

In a second case also involving Pace Precision Products, Tekely pleaded guilty to theft by unlawful taking and access device fraud. He was sentenced to six months to one year in jail which will run concurrent with his other sentence. For the second case, he was ordered to pay an additional $3,724.66 in restitution to replace funds charged to a company credit card.

The first theft charges came after an investigation in November. The president of the company reported that someone had removed approximately 1,600 pounds of chrome copper valued at $18,032 that had been stored in the main factory building. In addition, there was a prior theft of five rolls of titanium, which had been stored in the main factory building. Only four employees, including Tekely, knew the titanium was there.

When police spoke with G.C. Scrap Metals in Osceola Mills and Novey Recycling in Clearfield, they learned Tekely had sold them inconel, copper, aluminum and titanium. Some of the items were still on site and were identified as being those taken from Pace Precision.

Police found that Tekely was responsible for the theft of copper valued at $18,032, coils of titanium valued at $14,010, inconel material valued at $8,704.28, aluminum bars valued at $816 and stainless worth $453.40.

The second case involves incidents beginning in May 2010 and ending October of 2011.

According to the affidavit in this case, an audit revealed that Tekely had used a company issued Sheetz gas card for transactions that totaled $3,724.66. Tekely was permitted a monthly gas allowance of $200 for company-related driving and was told to ask for any additional money if necessary, which he did not do in the time frame specified.

In addition to the restitution, Tekely was fined a total of $650 plus costs. He must submit to DNA testing at a cost of $250 and complete 100 hours of community service.

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