State Attorney General called former IUP basketball star Yancy Taylor a “scam artist” who “preyed on an elderly woman and stole her life savings”, after Taylor pleaded guilty to two counts of felony theft and was sentenced fourteen years of probation, plus restitution to a Lancaster County woman.
The 47-year-old Taylor, who is from Donora, made a payment of $37,000 to the woman on Friday and will pay $200 a month until she is fully compensated and court costs are satisfied. He was charged in May of 2017 after the A.G.’s office said he repeatedly threatened the 72-year-old woman with mafia retaliation if she didn’t hand over the money. Prosecutors said he gambled away the victim’s life savings, $159,000, at Pittsburgh area casinos.
The woman was Taylor’s landlord and Shapiro said he “gained her trust” by helping her get money owned her by a previous tenant.
Taylor is an IUP Athletic Hall of Famer who played pro basketball in Europe after his time at IUP in the 1990s. In a Facebook post on Friday, he wrote, “Thank good lord this is over, God is good and I am moving forward in my life.”
