Inside Job: Credit Union Worker Jailed

⏱ 2 min read

Nicole Hilstolsky, 48, of Swoyersville, Pennsylvania, is trading her street clothes for an orange jumpsuit after a federal judge sentenced her to eight months in prison for a brazen scheme at the now-defunct WOD Federal Credit Union. Back on October 15, 2018, Hilstolsky didn’t wait for a robbery – she orchestrated one herself, pilfering $16,247 before dialing 911 and spinning a tale of two armed gunmen.

The whole thing smelled fishy from the jump. Investigators quickly figured out Hilstolsky was the mastermind, not a victim. She’d stashed the stolen cash *inside* the credit union, planning a later retrieval. No surprise, the story about the gunmen didn’t hold up under scrutiny. She lied to responding officers, desperate to make it look like a legitimate stick-up.

The FBI and Forty Fort Police were on the case, digging into the details and quickly unraveling Hilstolsky’s charade. Turns out, she was the only robber. Senior Judge Robert Mariani wasn’t buying her act and handed down the eight-month sentence today, followed by two years of supervised release. It’s a small price to pay for a calculated betrayal of trust.

Assistant U.S. Attorney James Buchanan closed the book on this one. Hilstolsky’s attempt to fleece the credit union and law enforcement ended with a trip to federal prison, a harsh reminder that even the most elaborate lies eventually surface.