A local elected official is facing criminal charges over public benefits he allegedly should not have received.
As reported by The Gateway Pundit, Uniontown, Pennsylvania, City Council member Trace Thomas was arraigned on a charge that he fraudulently obtained nearly $7,000 in taxpayer-funded food and heating assistance. The 34-year-old Democrat, according to state investigators, collected the aid while employed and earning more than $166,000 over the same period.
The Pennsylvania Office of State Inspector General alleges that Thomas received $5,705 in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits and $1,000 through the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program after he was hired in September 2023 by Senior Life, a Pittsburgh-based health care company. A criminal complaint obtained by The Herald-Standard says he continued to report himself as unemployed on eight applications as late as August 2025.
Investigators also allege that Thomas completed phone interviews with the county assistance office for food-stamp benefits and did not disclose his employment or income. More than a year after receiving his first paycheck from Senior Life, he sent a letter to the office in September 2024 stating that he was unemployed and looking for a job.
Thomas was elected to a four-year council term in 2023 and currently handles streets and improvements. Magisterial District Judge Jason Cox set bond at $20,000, which Thomas posted through a self-surety bond, then recused himself because Thomas had run against him unsuccessfully in a 2021 magistrate primary.
The case was reassigned to Judge Ronald Haggerty, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 10. Uniontown Solicitor Tim Witt said the charge does not relate to the City and does not require any action by City Council or the City at this time.
In the interim, however, the City notes that individuals are entitled to the presumption of innocence until proven otherwise. The City will monitor this case and will take action if or when it is appropriate, Witt said. Thomas had not publicly commented on the charges as of Thursday, and the complaint remains an allegation he will have a chance to contest in court.
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