By Tim Hahn
Erie Times
MEADVILLE, Pa. — Crawford County prison officials have suspended the county prison warden without pay and are recommending that Crawford County Commissioners perform an audit of the facility in the wake of theft and other charges filed against the warden last week.
The criminal charges that Pennsylvania State Police filed against 53-year-old Timmy L. Lewis and his wife, 50-year-old Debra G. Lewis, relate to allegations of theft from Moose Lodge 2505 in East Fairfield Township, and not from the Crawford County Correctional Facility. But members of the Crawford County Board of Jail Inspectors nevertheless voted during a special session Monday morning to recommend that the commissioners hire an outside accounting firm to conduct an audit of the correctional facility.
The board also voted Monday to suspend Timmy Lewis from his job as warden without pay, effective immediately, and to appoint Deputy Warden Ken Saulsbery as acting warden, said Crawford County District Attorney Francis Schultz, who chairs the board.
Timmy Lewis, of Meadville, has served as warden of the correctional facility since 1997. He was arraigned Thursday morning by Titusville District Judge Amy Nicols on charges including felony counts of theft by unlawful taking, theft by failure to make required disposition of funds received, theft by deception and conspiracy. He is free on $50,000 unsecured bond.
Debra Lewis was arraigned by Nicols on Thursday on felony counts of theft and conspiracy. She is free on $30,000 unsecured bond.
State police accuse the pair of stealing nearly $133,000 from the Moose lodge between May 2011 and October 2014, when Timmy Lewis was lodge administrator and Debra Lewis served as social quarters manager. Police also charge that Timmy Lewis rigged a reverse raffle at the lodge that he won in 2014.
Schultz said after the couple’s arraignments Thursday that Timmy Lewis’ status was that of warden of the correctional facility. He said Friday, after an executive session held by the Board of Jail Inspectors, that Lewis was on paid administrative leave, and that the board would meet in a public session Monday morning.
Timmy and Debra Lewis are scheduled to appear before Nicols for their preliminary hearings May 2.
The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office is prosecuting the case.
Copyright 2016 The Eerie Times