Attorney pleads guilty to stealing $50k from Bullskin Township masonic lodge
The attorney charged with stealing nearly $50,000 from a Fayette County masonic association has pleaded guilty and was sentenced to house arrest, weeks after he rejected a similar plea offer from prosecutors.
On Monday, Donald Blake Moreman, 58, of Connellsville pleaded guilty to 83 counts, including forgery and theft by deception, for stealing $49,594.99 from the Pleasant Valley Masonic Hall Association in Bullskin Township between June 2017 to August 2018. Investigators said he forged signatures to steal the money, diverting it to himself for personal use.
Fayette County Judge Joseph M. George Jr. sentenced Moreman to 36 months of intermediate punishment with 18 months on house arrest with electronic monitoring.
Moreman’s attorney, William J. Wiker, said Moreman had already paid all of the funds back to the association in January.
“He’s taken full responsibility for what he did,” Wiker said.
Prior to sentencing, Moreman said he was sorry for what had happened.
District Attorney Rich Bower said representatives of the association were in agreement with the plea bargain, but did not wish to provide a victim-impact statement before sentencing.
Wiker asked that if Moreman, a Greensburg attorney, were able to find employment during his house arrest, he could go on work release. Bower did not object to the request. The state Supreme Court disciplinary board lists Moreman’s law license as active.
In March, Moreman rejected a plea offer of 18 to 36 months intermediate punishment, with 18 months under house arrest in exchange for a guilty plea.