Unity man pleads guilty to theft of $380,000 from mother

Christopher Treasure told a Westmoreland County judge on Thursday he stole $380,000 from his 75-year-old mother to dull the pain of personal loss.

Those losses — the deaths of his father and son — caused him to spiral, Treasure said before pleading guilty to one felony theft charge. Prosecutors said he took money from his mother’s accounts while serving as her power-of-attorney from 2021 through June 2023.

The money, he said, was used to finance a growing gambling addiction that surfaced in the wake of his personal tragedy.

“It wasn’t me being malicious with my mother, but it got me to my happy place. When I found it, I didn’t realize it was as bad as it got. I was just looking for something that made me happy again,” Treasure said.

Police said Treasure, 51, of Unity, systematically withdrew money from his mother’s bank accounts and wrote checks to himself to pay for online gambling. He accessed his mother’s funds without her consent, police said.

Defense attorney Jay Kober said Treasure’s gambling addiction led to the theft.

“It goes to show how powerful a gambling addiction can be. Sometimes it’s worse than alcohol or drugs,” Kober said. “He entered this plea to avoid having her (his mother) testify and to get some closure.”

Westmoreland County Common Pleas Judge Meagan Bilik-­DeFazio sentenced Treasure to serve one year, less a day, to two years, less a day, in jail and an additional eight years on probation. The judge also ordered him to undergo gambling addiction treatment and to initially pay $50 every month as restitution to his mother.

Treasure worked as an administrator at a senior health care provider his family had owned for about three decades until he was fired following his arrest, Kober said. Treasure told the judge he is seeking a new job as a laborer.

Bilik-DeFazio agreed to allow Treasure to participate in a work release program during his incarceration and deferred his jail sentence for three months. He was ordered to report to the county jail on Feb. 9 to begin his sentence.