A 48-year-old Scranton woman pleaded guilty Thursday to four felony counts after an investigation showed she stole nearly $100,000 from the Scranton Firefighters Pension Fund by collecting her deceased mother’s pension checks for more than five years, Lackawanna County District Attorney Brian Gallagher said Friday.
Stacey Ann Bouton, of 1341 Bryn Mawr St., faces a maximum sentence of 37 years behind bars.
The investigation began Sept. 20, when pension board Solicitor Larry Durkin, of the Durkin MacDonald law firm of Dunmore, contacted Scranton police regarding potential fraud.
The pension funds originated with Robert Matticks, who was retired from the department in August 1998 and was approved for his pension that same month. Pension documents named Henrietta Matticks as his “survivor beneficiary.”
The family appropriately informed the department of Robert Matticks’ death in 2013, and Henrietta Matticks began receiving a widow’s benefit. She requested the funds be deposited into a Fidelity Bank account she shared with her deceased husband and Bouton, her daughter.
A “direct deposit summary” sent to Henrietta Matticks at that time clearly states any deposits made after her death were to be returned.
On Sept. 20, the pension board was reviewing a list of pension fund recipients and noticed Henrietta Matticks — who died June 10, 2020 — was still on the list.
Pension board President Gary DeStefano was notified and immediately stopped payments to the account.
Officials determined that, after Henrietta Matticks’ death, direct deposits continued to be made to the Fidelity account, totaling $10,051 in 2020; $18,545 in 2021; $18,542 in 2022; $18,542 in 2023; $18,542 in 2024, and $2,300 in 2025, totaling $86,524.
On Feb. 28, 2025, Fidelity Bank began rejecting the direct deposits because the account had been closed.
Mellon Bank, which issued the funds and had never been notified of Henrietta Matticks’ death, began sending paper checks to Bouton’s address, which she had shared with her mother.
A total of 15 checks were issued from March 5, 2025, until the alleged theft was discovered. The checks were cashed with signatures from Bouton and what appeared to be Henrietta Matticks, who was deceased at the time they were issued. Those checks totaled $9,938.
The loss to the pension fund from 2020 to 2025 is reported to be $96,463.
Bouton pleaded guilty to theft by unlawful taking, theft by deception, forgery and identity theft.
Sentencing is to be scheduled within 90 days.
“Today’s guilty plea holds the Defendant accountable for stealing from the firefighters’ pension fund. Our office takes financial crimes involving public funds and positions of trust very seriously. We appreciate the work of the investigators in bringing this matter to a successful conclusion and will continue to pursue those who violate the public’s trust,” said District Attorney Brian J. Gallagher.
Pension fund prevails in civil suit
In December, the Scranton Firefighters Pension Fund sued Bouton in Lackawanna County Court for damages in excess of $50,000.
The allegations in the criminal complaint generally echoed claims made in the lawsuit, including that Bouton did not inform the fund of her mother’s death and continued to collect the pension payments.
“Stacey Bouton’s actions were a deliberate theft of Pension Fund proceeds,” according to the lawsuit filed by Durkin.
In January, a $126,000 judgment was filed against Bouton after she failed to respond to the lawsuit.