Uniontown treasurer accused of stealing $106K in taxpayer funds

Uniontown’s elected treasurer has been charged with stealing about $106,000 in taxpayer funds during her time in office.

Antoinette Hodge, 53, is charged by the state police Western Organized Crime Unit with four felony counts, including theft by failure to make required disposition of funds and perjury. She also is charged with two misdemeanors, including obstruction.

“The defendant is a public official entrusted to oversee city funds with integrity and accountability,” Attorney General Josh Shapiro said in announcing the charges. “Instead, she is accused of stealing from taxpayers to enrich herself.”

Uniontown City Council launched an investigation last year after more than a dozen taxpayers received delinquency notices despite having already paid their taxes. A forensic audit found a loss of $106,750 of taxpayer money in 2020-21, Shapiro said.

A grand jury investigation determined that Hodge, who was elected treasurer in 2019, had converted the money for her personal gain. Staff at the city’s Treasurer’s Office testified changes were made under Hodge’s leadership, with Hodge taking over filling out deposit slips, taking over as the sole person reviewing tax account information and eliminating other checks and balances.

During the same time, Hodge took numerous costly vacations and spent tens of thousands of dollars each year on gambling, the investigation determined.

Hodge was free on an unsecured $75,000 bond, pending a Jan. 10 preliminary hearing.

In January 2020, after her election as Uniontown’s first Black municipal treasurer, Hodge filed a federal civil suit in Pittsburgh claiming that a conspiracy between two Uniontown city officials kept her from promptly assuming her office because of her race. Hodge claimed that a councilman overstepped his authority to have her required bond canceled based on “incriminating evidence” found during a background search.

That suit later was dismissed.