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<p>He&#8217;s no longer a fire chief, but John Yuknavich is once again a free man &#8212; sort of.</p><p>Online records indicate that the disgraced former head of the Wilkes-Barre Township Volunteer Fire Department has been released from federal prison after serving six months behind bars in a theft case.</p><p>Released Tuesday, Yuknavich still is required to serve six months of home confinement with electronic monitoring, court documents indicate.</p><p>Yuknavich, 51, pleaded guilty in September in federal court to theft charges. He was charged with stealing $45,000 from the Wilkes-Barre Township Volunteer Fire Department during his time as chief and must repay that amount in restitution.</p><p>Federal prosecutors said Yuknavich was responsible for stealing the money from 2008 through 2011. Federal law prohibits the theft of $5,000 or more from local government programs that receive more than $10,000 in federal funds annually.</p><p>As part of a sentencing agreement, Yuknavich agreed to resign any and all positions within the fire department, which he had served for 36 years in various capacities.</p><p>Yuknavich will be under the supervision of the federal probation office in Scranton, a U.S. Department of Justice spokeswoman said.</p><p>According to federal court documents, the terms of Yuknavich&#8217;s release and confinement include:</p><p>&#8226; He must remain at his residence except for employment, education, religious services, treatment, necessary shopping or other activities pre-approved by his probation officer.</p><p>&#8226; He must abstain from consumption of alcohol.</p><p>&#8226; He may not possess any firearm or dangerous weapon.</p><p>&#8226; He is prohibited from obtaining any job in which he would have control over money.</p><p>&#8226; He is prohibited from seeking or accepting any public or elective office or position of public trust for five years or the duration of supervised release.</p><p>In addition to the home confinement, Yuknavich is subject to three years of supervised release.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Former Wilkes-Barre Township fire chief John Yuknavich arrives at the federal courthouse in Scranton on Thursday morning for sentencing on charges he stole $45,000 from the township fire department he directed.  Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_John-Paul-Yuknavich-1-22-151.jpg</photo0><caption0>Former Wilkes-Barre Township fire chief John Yuknavich arrives at the federal courthouse in Scranton on Thursday morning for sentencing on charges he stole $45,000 from the township fire department he directed.  Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader</caption0><photoCredit0>Yuknavich </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By James O&#8217;Malley</p><p>jomalley@www.timesleader.com and Roger DuPuis</p><p>rdupuis@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach James O&#8217;Malley at 570-991-6390 or on Twitter @TL_omalley.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Ex-fire chief John Yuknavich out of prison, subject to home confinement