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At least over the last seven years, Nicole Hilstolsky may have believed she had gotten away with the crime of robbing her own credit union.
On Oct. 15, 2018, Hilstolsky stole $16,247 from the safe and teller drawer at the $2.5 million W.O.D. Federal Credit Union and told police investigators two unidentified armed bank robbers had committed the crime.
But it wasn’t until Nov. 14, 2025 when federal prosecutors filed a criminal information document that charged one felony count of theft against the former employee of the Forty Fort, Pa.-based credit union, about 20 miles south of Scranton.
The robbery shocked the community because the credit union was only about 20 yards away from the police station, Newswatch 16 in Scranton reported on Oct. 15, 2018.
“We saw the police with rifles. We locked our doors,” the manager of a nearby auto store told Newswatch 16. “We didn’t know what was going on.”
Forty Fort police investigators reported two men in hoods with guns walked into the credit union around lunchtime and demanded money.
Authorities asked the public to contact police with any information about the robbery, according to Newswatch 16.
But by the first quarter of 2019, the NCUA deemed W.O.D. Federal Credit Union in poor financial condition and merged it with the $168 million UFCW Community Federal Credit Union in Wyoming, Pa.
Court documents did not explain why it took federal prosecutors seven years to charge Hilstolsky.
She signed a plea deal with prosecutors on Nov. 3, agreeing to plead guilty to one felony count of theft and to pay $22,197 in restitution.
Hilstolsky’s attorney, Christopher R. Opiel in Wilkes-Barre, declined to comment when reached on Monday.
Her first federal court appearance in Scranton has not yet been scheduled.
Contact Peter Strozniak at peter.strozniak@arc-network.com.
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