CLEARFIELD – The second of two brothers facing five felony charges for stealing over $22,000 from their fast-food employer pleaded guilty to lesser charges Friday during plea and sentencing court.
Shane Nevling of Clearfield and his twin brother, Shawn of Curwensville, both 41, were managers at the McDonald’s on North Second Street in Clearfield when the thefts occurred.
Both were charged with knowledge that property is proceeds of illegal acts, conspiracy, theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property and criminal use of a communication facility, all felonies.
Shane was sentenced by President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman to serve four years probation for misdemeanor criminal conspiracy/theft, theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property after paying over $11,000 in restitution.
In September, Shawn pleaded to the same charges and received a three-year probation sentence.
As part of his plea agreement, he was also required to pay restitution of $11,151.39, which he did prior to sentencing.
According to the affidavit, Shane worked as the night shift manager and was responsible for gathering the money at the end of the night, counting it, documenting the amount and securing it in a safe.
Shawn, who was the manager on the day shift, had the responsibility of confirming the amount and making the bank deposits in the morning.
In September 2023, the accountant noticed that eight deposits starting in August 2023, were never taken to the bank.
Shawn was confronted about the missing funds on Sept. 7, 2023 and told that the police would be called if he didn’t provide the money within 48 hours.
He offered to pay the money back. However, as time passed, he reportedly kept stalling, saying he was trying to get a loan on his house. Eventually, the owners were unable to get hold of him and Shawn failed to show up for work.
He later contacted the officials at the restaurant saying he was going to turn himself in and “take the rap for his brother” whom he said had a criminal history. But Shawn did not appear at the police station.
A review of their criminal history revealed that they both had previous theft and conspiracy charges and it was noted in the criminal complaint that they had a history of committing thefts together.
Investigators contacted Shane who agreed to talk with them voluntarily at the police station on Sept. 26, 2023.
Initially Shane claimed he did not steal the money and that he was doing “what his brother told him to do.” He agreed to allow the officers to view cell phone messages between the two men.
“This officer observed a number of messages between both Shawn and Shane, in regards to the money being removed from the store, resulting in the money bags being placed in Shane’s shed for Shawn to pick up,” it explains in the affidavit.
Officials reportedly found numerous messages involving the sale of controlled substances and gambling.
The messages reportedly incriminated both men in a conspiracy to make the thefts. There were also messages about running away to avoid jail time.
After investigators read the messages, Shane became more cooperative saying that he didn’t originally know Shawn was stealing, but eventually he helped him. He stated that Shawn was gambling a lot and had a drug addiction.
When Shawn was questioned, he initially lied saying Shane took the money and wanted him to take the blame.
But, after he was told the police had seen their messages, Shawn claimed he “lost” three or four deposits in July and was floating the deposits to make up for the mistake.
He thought maybe someone else in his family had used his vehicle, cleaning it out and throwing the deposits away by mistake.
Shawn did say he only used his own money to gamble but admitted to being addicted to prescription medications.
When asked when Shane figured out, he was stealing the money, Shawn confirmed that Shane didn’t know at first. He also stated that he believed Shane was taking a portion of the deposits for himself.
