Elderly mother of Unity man suspected in ex's disappearance pleads guilty to $9 fraud, gets no jail time

The 85-year-old mother of a Unity man authorities have called a person of interest in the 2018 disappearance of Cassandra Gross pleaded guilty Friday in a conspiracy to swindle government benefits while her son was in jail on pending charges.

Police said Almira Stanko, at her son’s direction, used his public welfare benefits to buy about $9 in groceries at a local store.

She pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy, forgery and access device fraud, all felony offenses. The deal, approved by Common Pleas Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio, included an agreement in which no sentence would be imposed. The judge also waived a requirement that Stanko pay associated court costs.

“She wanted to put it behind her. She’s 85, and she didn’t want to keep coming here (to the courthouse),” defense attorney Brian Aston said.

Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli said Friday’s plea bargain was in line with standard sentencing guidelines.

“It is an appropriate resolution based on her age and the severity of the crime,” Ziccarelli said.

The plea deal comes as her son, 51-year-old Thomas Stanko, remains in federal custody awaiting a sentencing hearing March 23 after he pleaded guilty late last year to weapons offenses.

Conspiracy and forgery charges in state court in connection with his mother’s case still are pending.

Meanwhile, the prosecution appealed a ruling issued last summer to dismiss three other criminal cases filed against Thomas Stanko. Common Pleas Judge Tim Krieger ruled prosecutors failed to bring those cases to trial in a timely manner. In those cases, investigators claimed Stanko possessed a stolen ATV in 2018, violated terms of a drunken-driving sentence that same year and assaulted a man during a Youngstown bar fight in 2017.

Stanko originally was jailed in 2018 after his former girlfriend disappeared. Gross, who was 51 when she was last seen in April 2018, was officially declared dead by a county judge in 2019. Prosecutors named Thomas Stanko as a potential suspect in her disappearance and, on multiple occasions over the past four years, have searched his property in Unity for evidence.

Police have said they believe Gross was killed, but her remains have never been found.

“It’s a very active investigation, and this office is 100% committed to seeking justice in this case,” Ziccarelli said.