A sitting city council member in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, has been arraigned on a fraud charge after state investigators alleged he collected food and heating assistance meant for low-income households while earning more than $166,000 from a health care job he did not report. Trace Thomas, 34, was arraigned on Thursday, November 12, in Fayette County on one count of fraudulently obtaining benefits, according to the Herald-Standard's reporting on the criminal complaint, announced by the Pennsylvania Office of State Inspector General and the Fayette County District Attorney's Office.
Source: Herald-Standard via Republican Report
Investigators say Thomas collected $5,705 in SNAP food assistance and $1,000 through LIHEAP, the federal heating-aid program — about $6,700 in total — over nearly two years, while listing himself as unemployed on his applications. The charge is an allegation: Thomas has not been convicted of any crime and is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
What Investigators Say He Hid
According to the criminal complaint, Senior LIFE, a Pittsburgh-based health care company that serves older adults in Fayette County, hired Thomas in September 2023. Investigators say he earned $166,637.61 in gross wages from the company between November 9, 2023, and September 30, 2025 — and during that same period reported himself as unemployed on eight benefit applications, the most recent in August 2025.
The complaint also alleges that Thomas did not report his job or income during phone interviews with the county assistance office, and that in September 2024 — more than a year after his first paycheck from Senior LIFE — he sent the office a letter stating that he was unemployed and looking for a job. The Inspector General's office, which investigates fraud in public aid programs, brought the case, and the charge has been described in the announcement as a third-degree felony for allegedly making false statements to obtain public assistance.
Uniontown city solicitor Tim Witt said the city is aware of the charge and is reviewing it. "The charge does not relate to the City and does not require any action by City Council or the City at this time," Witt said, adding that "individuals are entitled to the presumption of innocence until proven otherwise."
Bond, a Recusal and the Next Hearing
Magisterial District Judge Jason Cox set bond at $20,000 at the arraignment, and Thomas posted the bond himself that morning. Cox later stepped aside from the case: Thomas had run against Cox for magistrate judge in a 2021 primary and lost. The case was handed to Judge Ronald Haggerty.
A preliminary hearing is set for December 10. At that hearing, a judge will decide whether there is enough evidence for the case to move toward trial. Thomas was elected to a four-year term on Uniontown City Council in 2023. No response from Thomas or a lawyer for him has been reported.
Part of a Wider State Push
The case lands inside a broader enforcement drive. The state Inspector General's office says it charged 310 people in 2025 with a combined $3 million in public benefits theft, and that felony charges have been filed against 1,392 people in such cases under the current administration, according to state figures.
SNAP and LIHEAP are income-tested programs: the amount of help a household receives is based on what it earns, which is why applications require honest income reporting. For Uniontown residents — a Fayette County city of roughly 10,000 people southwest of Pittsburgh — the December 10 hearing is the next step in deciding whether the allegation against one of their elected council members proceeds to a full trial.