Federal prosecutors in an embezzlement case are again asking a judge to reject a Center Township man's attempt to reverse a guilty plea, calling the renewed attempt absurd.

Scott Roskovski and his wife, Stephanie Roskovski, pleaded guilty in federal court May 28 to separate charges related to defrauding the Butler Health System of between $600,000 to $1.3 million when Stephanie Roskovski was the system's chief operating officer from 2011 to 2017. Scott Roskovski attempted to withdraw his guilty plea, a request that was rejected earlier this year. He renewed the request a second time this month, and prosecutors responded Tuesday by arguing nothing had changed since the first rejection and the new material submitted in his defense only further proves his guilt.

District Judge William Stickman IV hasn't ruled yet on the second withdrawal request.

Scott Roskovski specifically pleaded guilty to federal charges of filing a false loan application and false income tax return. He made his first attempt at withdrawing the guilty plea Jan. 12. Stickman rejected that request, finding that Roskovski hadn't met the standard of a “fair and just reason” for withdrawing a guilty plea. And prosecutors on Tuesday argued that the same determination should be made for this second request.

Prosecutors characterized the second motion as “a rewording of the same argument and attaching exhibits that wholly fail to support his claim of innocence.”

After Stephanie Roskovski's termination from BHS, the couple went to S&T bank for a business loan to refinance and consolidate their debt on the Switchback Raceway, which they owned. In Scott Roskovski's renewed request, he argues in the court filing that he didn't think Stephanie's employment status mattered in the bank's decision to refinance the business.

To support this argument he submitted several documents, including a “credit memo” prepared by S&T Bank as part of the approval process for a loan the Roskovskis were seeking. Scott Roskovski filed this document to support his argument that he did not think that his wife's current employment status mattered in the bank's deliberation to loan the couple $1.1 million.

“In other words, he admits to falsifying the loan application submitted to S&T Bank but argues he did not intend to influence the bank's decision to extend the loan by doing so. The defendant's contention is absurd and a fabrication for purposes of his motion,” prosecutors wrote in their court filing.

Prosecutors also conclude that the memo shows that S&T “clearly relied” on the employment status and income of Scott and Stephanie Roskovski in their decision to extend a loan to them. Stephanie Roskovski was unemployed at the time after losing her job with BHS, but the couple claimed on the loan application that she was still employed there.

Scott Roskovski also said in his renewed request that he was “confused” about the government's burden of proof at trial, but prosecutors dismiss this claim as a “complete fabrication.”

Prosecutors also noted Scott Roskovski's career as a detective with the Butler County District Attorney's office and his education with the Police Academy at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania make him “uniquely informed and educated in the workings of the criminal justice system.”

Prosecutors conclude that, “The government submits that defendant Roskovski's guilty plea was knowing and voluntary. For all the forgoing reasons, he has not met his substantial burden nor established a fair and just reason for the withdrawal of his plea of guilty.”