HARRISBURG — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Pennsylvania, Middle), published as received.
HARRISBURG - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Christopher Gontaryk, age 47, of Wormleysburg, Pennsylvania, was indicted yesterday by a federal grand jury on one count of theft of government property.
According to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam, the indictment alleges that between March 6, 2022 and March 14, 2022, Gontaryk stole and then retained construction materials belonging to the United States from the site of the U.S. Courthouse being constructed near the intersection of Reily Street and North 6th Street in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Gontaryk was previously indicted in January 2022 for committing a similar offense—stealing construction materials from the U.S. Courthouse construction site—on October 11, 2021. He pleaded guilty to the October 2021 offense in May 2022, and he is currently awaiting sentencing.
In March 2022, Gontaryk’s bail was revoked, and he was ordered to be detained after being arrested for committing the new offense.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Federal Protective Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ravi Romel Sharma is prosecuting the case.
The maximum penalty under federal law for theft of government property is 10 years of imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. The defendant may also face an enhanced penalty because this offense was committed while he was on pretrial release for the earlier charge. A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
Indictments and Criminal Informations are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.
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