A former Carbon County Clerk of Courts stole $43,000 from the office, mostly bail money and prison booking/fingerprint fees, according to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office.

William C. McGinley, 60, of Jim Thorpe was charged Friday with theft by unlawful taking-movable property, receiving stolen property, theft by failure to make required disposition of funds, tampering with public records or information, obstruction of the administration of law or other government function, and restricted activities-conflict of interest.

He was arraigned Friday morning at Magisterial District Judge Eric Schrantz’s office in Jim Thorpe.

Schrantz set bail at $50,000, unsecured.

According to an affidavit of probable cause filed by Special Agent Jeffrey Wright, there were 169 instances between September 2013 and March 2018 when fingerprint/booking fees were collected at the Carbon County Correctional Facility and turned over to the county Clerk of Courts office, but the money, totaling $12,955, was never deposited in the bank or noted in the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts computer system. The Clerk of Courts office normally receives cash from the prison the next business day after a person is fingerprinted and/or booked following a criminal arrest, or when bail is paid with cash to the prison after business hours.

Wright said there were also 69 cases, from August 2014 to April 2018, where bail was posted in cash and turned over to the county Clerk of Courts office, but was never deposited or accounted for in the AOPC system.

"As a result," Wright wrote, "the associated court dockets for those cases were never updated to reflect those defendants ever posted bail and the money could not be refunded to them at the conclusion of their case."

McGinley met with representatives from the Attorney General’s office on Dec. 3 and admitted he took money from the office during the time he was elected. He told agents he used the money to gamble on poker machines at casinos or Molly Maguires Pub and Steakhouse, located next to the courthouse.

Asked how much money he thought he took from the office, McGinley estimated around $20,000. When told it was near $45,000, McGinley said he was "surprised it was that much, but he was willing to pay it back."

He was arraigned Friday morning at Magisterial District Judge Eric Schrantz’s office in Jim Thorpe.

McGinley retired after 28 years in the position on May 1, leaving the office what county officials dubbed, “a mess.”

He was re-elected without opposition last November and was only four months into his new term at the time.

County officials confirmed in July that the Attorney General’s Office was investigating McGinley.

The county’s insurance carrier, the Pennsylvania Counties Risk Pool, also conducted an audit of the office.

Commissioners said problems included positions in the office being left open for more than a year, something only the clerk of courts could rectify; a hostile work environment; people’s driving suspensions being delayed indefinitely because of paperwork not being filed with the state in a timely manner; inmates sentenced to state prison not being transferred because paperwork is held up; and warrants not being issued.

The county entered into an agreement with Lehigh County to use two staff members, Jill Herschman and Jordan Kocher, to help the office catch up with its extreme backlog of cases.

Commissioners’ Chairman Wayne Nothstein estimated in July that more than $1 million in court-related fees are sitting in paperwork that has yet to be filed.

Francine Heaney of Nesquehoning was sworn in by senior District Judge Edward Lewis in October to fill the vacancy that had existed since McGinley’s retirement.

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