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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Mayoral hopeful Tony George won&#8217;t face criminal charges over discrepancies in his campaign finance reports.</p><p>Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis announced in a news release Friday her decision not to pursue charges against George. The release said an investigation into the Democrat candidate&#8217;s finance forms revealed the discrepancies occurred without criminal intent to disguise campaign contributions or expenditures.</p><p>&#8220;I learned a big lesson,&#8221; George said. &#8220;You can&#8217;t do everything yourself.&#8221;</p><p>But between campaigning door-to-door and performing his duties as a city councilman, he said, he tried to go it alone, working late nights and ultimately making a mistake in his accounting.</p><p>The discrepancies, brought to the attention of election officials in August through an anonymous mailing, included a report of a $2,500 contribution from a city contractor who said he had only donated $100. George stated previously he had confused two contributions.</p><p>George said Friday he cooperated with the investigation, a statement corroborated in Salavantis&#8217;s news release, and said he&#8217;s relieved investigators realized the discrepancies were simply a mistake. The process has taught him at least one other lesson as well.</p><p>&#8220;Hire the experts to do what they&#8217;ve got to do,&#8221; he said.</p><p>George&#8217;s opponent in the November election, Republican candidate Frank Sorick, said the investigation results revealed what he had suspected since the discrepancies were first discovered &#8212; no foul play, just sloppy accounting.</p><p>And much like George&#8217;s explanation of the discrepancies hasn&#8217;t changed, Sorick said his concerns about the discrepancies&#8217; implications haven&#8217;t changed either.</p><p>&#8220;If you&#8217;re making these kind of mistakes on a-few-thousand-dollar campaign forms, what types of mistakes can we expect on a $45 million city budget?&#8221; Sorick said.</p><p>George responded to Sorick&#8217;s criticism saying he wouldn&#8217;t be performing all of the city&#8217;s administrative duties himself, and rather would be working with a team.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m going to get the right people with the right ideas, and I&#8217;m going to take their advice,&#8221; George said. &#8220;No one person can run the city.&#8221;</p><p>Sorick also questioned the timing of Salavantis&#8217;s decision to release investigation results that clear his opponent, pointing out that just days earlier he had leveled accusations against her of misusing public resources to further her campaign, an allegation Salavantis adamantly denied.</p><p>Salavantis responded to Sorick&#8217;s latest criticism, restating a position she said she&#8217;s held since first taking over as district attorney.</p><p>&#8220;This office will make prosecutorial decisions based on the facts determined by the investigation and the application of the law to those facts,&#8221; she said. &#8220;We don&#8217;t make decisions based on popularity, public perception or retaliation.&#8221;</p><p>Salavantis, a Republican, is running for reelection in November against Democrat Vito DeLuca.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Salavantis</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_Salavantis_Stefanie_toned2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Salavantis</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_Sorick-Frank_toned1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Sorick</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_Sorick-Frank_toned1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Sorick</caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_George_Tony2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">George</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_George_Tony2.jpg</photo2><caption2>George</caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Mayoral hopeful found to have no criminal intent</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By James O&#8217;Malley</p><p>jomalley@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>

DA: No criminal charges will be filed against Wilkes-Barre mayor candidate Tony George