Man admits stealing from charity for victims of fatal fire
NORRISTOWN >> A Phoenixville man admitted to what prosecutors called two “reprehensible” acts, keeping more than $600 raised for a charity assisting a Montgomery County deputy sheriff whose children died in a December 2017 fire in Schwenksville and fleecing a local nonprofit group of more than $3,700.
Robert Andrew Domarasky, 48, of the 100 block of Columbia Avenue, showed no emotion as he pleaded guilty in Montgomery
County Court on Monday to multiple charges of theft by deception in connection with incidents that occurred between January and May 2018.
Judge Steven T. O’Neill deferred sentencing so that court officials can complete a background investigation report about Domarasky, who will remain free on bail pending a sentencing hearing in several months.
“You are not to hold any fundraisers for anyone,” O’Neill sternly warned Domarasky about a condition of bail.
The open plea means Domarasky has no deals
with prosecutors regarding his potential punishment. Domarasky faces a possible maximum sentence of 6 to 12 years in prison on the charges. However, state sentencing guidelines could allow for a lesser sentence.
Assistant District Attorney Evan Correia vowed to seek some jail time against Domarasky.
“I will be seeking jail time in this case. I think what the defendant did was reprehensible and anything less than a period of incarceration would diminish the seriousness of this offense,” Correia said after the hearing.
Domarasky did not address the charges as he left the courtroom with his lawyer, Eugene P. Tinari.
With the charges, county detectives accused Domarasky of organizing a calendar sale that was to benefit the family of Bryan Lukens, a deputy sheriff whose children Parker, 6, and Bryan Jr., 11, died in a devastating Dec. 13, 2017, fire at their Schwenksville home. Prosecutors said Domarasky pocketed $610 raised through calendar sales for the Lukens Foundation charity.
“He was taking that money and not forwarding that on to the appropriate people. He was keeping it for himself,” Correia said.
During the investigation, a woman told detectives Domarasky approached her in December 2017 indicating he wanted to arrange a benefit for the Lukens family, specifically raise up to $3,500 by selling $5 calendars, according to the criminal complaint filed by county Detective Walter Kerr. The woman agreed to sell the calendars for Domarasky and
“I think what the defendant did was reprehensible and anything less than a period of incarceration would diminish the seriousness of this offense.” — Montgomery County Prosecutor Evan Correia
sold a total of $610 worth of calendars and gave the money to Domarasky, detectives alleged.
On April 4, 2019, detectives interviewed an administrator of the Lukens Foundation who reviewed all records of donations made to the foundation and “could not find any records of donations made by Robert Domarasky,” Kerr wrote in court papers.
During a second theft scheme, Domarasky admitted to stealing $3,784 that was supposed to go to the Phoenixville chapter of Compassionate Friends, a non-profit that provides care and support to families who have lost a child.
According to an affidavit of probable cause, Pottstown police launched an investigation in September 2018 after it was reported that Domarasky “deceitfully misrepresented himself as a representative of Compassionate Friends, a non-profit.”
The owners of State Street Bingo/ Transplant Alliance, located on State Street in Pottstown, reported that they had entered into an agreement with Domarasky to conducting weekly bingo events at their location and that Domarasky would directly handle State Street Bingo’s cash donation to Compassionate Friends. The events took place weekly from
April 3 to May 22.
“They continued to state that at the end of each event they would then pay the defendant in cash thinking he was donating said cash to the Compassionate Friends charity,” Pottstown Police Officer Timothy Cascio alleged in the arrest affidavit.
The owners of State Street Bingo said they paid Domarasky $3,784 in cash for what they believed to be charity donations, according to the arrest affidavit.
Police then spoke with the head of Phoenixville’s chapter for Compassionate Friends and learned that she was unaware of Domarasky’s activities and that she had not received any checks or donations from him in 2018, according to the criminal complaint.
When police interviewed Domarasky he initially lied and claimed the non-profit group was aware of his representation of the group during the bingo events.
But when Domarasky was informed by police that chapter officials were not aware of his activities, he admitted lying in his previous statement and confessed to falsely representing himself as a contractor for Compassionate Friends while receiving cash on the group’s behalf.
“The defendant admitted to doing this because he was involved in an automobile accident and money was tight,” Cascio alleged in the arrest affidavit. “The defendant stated he did not give any cash received from said bingo events to Compassionate Friends even though he falsely represented himself as a representative of them.”
Domarasky allegedly told police “he paid bills with the money” he received from the bingo events.