According to court records filed on February 23, 2026, Schuylkill County Judge William L. Burke granted a motion to dismiss several felony counts against Neil Francis Sokola, 49, of Minersville, who had been accused of embezzling more than $373,000 from St. Matthew the Evangelist and St. Michael the Archangel parishes in Minersville.
Judge Burke issued an opinion and order dismissing Counts 1, 2, and 3 of the criminal case after determining the charges violated the applicable statute of limitations.
Sokola had originally been charged with multiple felony offenses, including theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, and theft by failure to make required disposition of funds.
Background of the Case
The charges stemmed from an investigation by the Schuylkill County District Attorney’s Office into financial irregularities discovered at the two parishes where Sokola worked as a bookkeeper from 2012 to 2019.The investigation began in 2019 after Rev. Jason Stokes, who became pastor of the parishes that June, was alerted by parishioners to concerns about delayed deposits and discrepancies between collection records and actual bank deposits.
After implementing updated financial procedures and accounting practices required by the Diocese of Allentown, an audit revealed significant missing cash deposits spanning several years.
According to investigators, forensic analysis found a pattern in which older or unrelated checks were substituted for cash that had allegedly been removed from weekly parish collections.
Authorities reported discrepancies in 326 separate deposits, with the most significant losses occurring in 2017 and 2018, when more than $150,000 was allegedly diverted.
The total amount of cash that was never deposited was reported to be $373,328.97.
Sokola was originally arraigned on December 3, 2024, before Magisterial District Judge David Plachko and released on $50,000 unsecured bail.
Attorney Responds to Dismissal
In a statement following the court’s decision, Sokola’s attorney from Williamson Friedberg & Jones LLC said the charges were dismissed strictly due to the timing of the prosecution.
“The charges against Mr. Sokola were dismissed because they violated the Statute of Limitations. Although the charges were dismissed for this reason, the Commonwealth does have the ability to re-file the charges,” the statement said. “Should the Commonwealth choose to re-file, and overcome the Statute of Limitations issue — which would almost certainly need to be litigated again — Mr. Sokola intends to fully defend against the charges on the merits.”
Charges Could Be Refiled
While the charges were dismissed, the court’s ruling does not prevent prosecutors from refiling the case if they can address the statute of limitations issue.
As of now, it is unclear whether the Schuylkill County District Attorney’s Office intends to pursue the case further.