Former Point Marion official accused of taking $73k from borough鈥檚 parks commission
Woman was co-winner of $30M Powerball jackpot in 2002
The former vice president of Point Marion’s parks committee – who was co-winner of a $30.6 million Powerball jackpot nearly 25 years ago – is accused of taking more than $73,000 from the borough to help fuel her gambling habit.
Georgianna M. Carter, 58, was charged Thursday with felony theft after Fayette County detectives said she made numerous withdrawals and transactions from the Point Marion Borough Park Commission’s bank account before officials discovered the discrepancies 16 months after she joined the board in April 2021.
According to court documents, borough Mayor Carl Ables Jr. first noticed the irregularities with the funds in August 2022 after invoices for the annual Point Marion Regatta went unpaid. He then reviewed the park commission’s bank account and found countless transactions that were not “legitimate municipal expenses,” along with payments and transfers directly to Carter, investigators said.
Ables took the information to the Point Marion Police Department, which initiated the investigation. Officers confronted Carter with the evidence, and she admitted to the theft, according to court documents. A total of $73,183 was allegedly taken from the account between April 2021 and August 2022, according to court documents. However, no formal police report was written, and Carter was not charged at the time as she was removed from the commission.
The case remained unresolved for about three years until incoming Fayette County District Attorney Michael Aubele met with Point Marion officials last year and had “a lot of dialogue” on the matter.
“We played catch up and were able to file the charges we did,” Aubele said. “We never gave up on it.”
He said previous district attorney Rich Bower’s administration “sat on the case” for unknown reasons, but Aubele’s office renewed the investigation, leading to Detective Steven Kontaxes and an FBI agent interviewing Carter in August.
During that interview, Carter once again admitted to the theft, but claimed her boyfriend, Robert Cogar, had already paid back the money to the borough, according to court documents. But a review of the borough’s finances showed Cogar – who is not accused of any wrong-doing – wrote only three checks totaling $17,000.
Cogar and Carter won a $30.6 million Powerball jackpot in West Virginia after Cogar purchased a ticket in Morgantown in 2002, according to a story by the Associated Press. The couple arrived in a limousine at the West Virginia Lottery’s headquarters in Charleston to receive their ceremonial check for the $12 million lump sum payment, according to the news article.
“Our primary use of the money will be to assure that the children will have secure futures that include college educations,” Carter told reporters during the ceremony. “We’ll help our older, immediate family members as well.”
Carter also won $100,000 from a Pennsylvania Lottery instant scratch-off ticket purchased at a Point Marion grocery store in October 2011. In a press release from the lottery, she said her plans for the money were “still up in the air.”
Aubele said investigators were “flabbergasted” when they learned that Carter had won two major jackpots, but did not have the money to make the restitution payments as she had claimed.
“It seems like she would have the money (to pay restitution) but never did,” Aubele said. “We’re very satisfied we were able to put the case together.”
Carter, of Point Marion, was arraigned Thursday morning by District Judge Daniel Shimshock on felony charges of theft by unlawful taking and access device fraud, along with one misdemeanor count of misapplying entrusted government funds. She is free on $50,000 unsecured bond while awaiting her preliminary hearing before Shimshock that is tentatively scheduled for Feb. 25 at 3 p.m. No attorney was listed for Carter in online court records.
Point Marion Borough officials could not be reached for comment Friday.