Doctor gets probation for selling weight-loss drugs from China to Mon Valley Hospital colleagues
A former doctor at Penn Highlands Mon Valley Hospital was ordered Wednesday in federal court to serve two years probation after pleading guilty to illegally selling weight-loss drugs to hospital employees. Liana Bittner, who worked at the hospital as an emergency department physician, said in court documents she was not...
Lawsuit accuses Shady Side Academy of firing nursing director who raised concerns
The former director of nursing at Shady Side Academy, a private pre-K through grade 12 school in Fox Chapel and Pittsburgh, is suing after she said its administrators repeatedly directed her to disregard state regulations governing how medications are delivered in school and interfered with her ability to do her...
Driver in red-light crash that killed motorcyclist in Downtown Pittsburgh gets probation
Heidi Christopher knows exactly how long it’s been since her father was killed driving his motorcycle in Downtown Pittsburgh: 640 days. That’s how she measures time now as she grieves the man who helped her raise her children, who provided unconditional love, who had spent nearly 21 years sober and...
Man gets up to 30 years in prison for killing homeless woman under Carnegie bridge
Barbara McKenna lived and died on the streets of Carnegie, beaten to death by a fellow homeless person who knew her as “Aunt Babs.” On the morning of Aug. 18, 2024, Joseph Beraducci attacked McKenna, who at 64 was more than twice his age, after they had been drinking together....
Exodus of federal prosecutors ripples through Pittsburgh office
Since January 2025, nearly a third of the federal prosecutors based in Pittsburgh have left their jobs, joining a national exodus under the Trump administration. Pressured by increasingly heavy workloads linked to President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, the waning independence of the Justice Department and disruptions at several high-profile offices,...
Jury acquits man in daylight shooting of teen in Downtown Pittsburgh
A Beltzhoover man accused of shooting a teenager last year in the middle of the afternoon in Downtown Pittsburgh was found not guilty on all counts on Monday. Martel Hedge Jr., 22, alleged he was defending himself on Feb. 19, 2025, when he fired the single shot in the 400...
Lawsuit claims Allegheny County Jail guard failed to protect inmate attacked in cell with spork
A formerly incarcerated man is suing Allegheny County after he claims he was sexually assaulted in his jail cell with a spork. The complaint, filed last week against Allegheny County and Corrections Officer Van Lieu, includes claims for failure to protect, and failure to train, supervise and discipline staff. Although...
Man who posted online as ‘Mr. Satan’ pleads guilty to threatening to kill Trump, ICE agents
A Butler man who threatened in online posts last year to kill President Donald Trump and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents pleaded guilty in federal court on Monday. Shawn Monper, 33, will be sentenced Aug. 12 by U.S. District Judge W. Scott Hardy on two counts of influencing, impeding or...
Man who sold fatal fentanyl to North Fayette teen pleads guilty to involuntary manslaughter
An Aliquippa man will serve 2½ to 6 years in state prison after pleading guilty on Monday to involuntary manslaughter for giving a 15-year-old fentanyl that led to her death. Shakeirs Foster, 29, was charged last year after the death of Mia Pepper of North Fayette. He pleaded guilty on...
Hot Wheels customization goes from hobby to full-time job for military vet
As an artistic child growing up in Rector, Donald Wyckoff loved building models and collecting cars, a hobby he shared with his grandfather. But over the course of 10 years that Wyckoff spent in the Navy as a military police officer stationed at various stops across the country and around...
Judge throws out homicide case against 2 men in Pittsburgh slaying
A judge on Tuesday threw out homicide charges against two men accused of a homicide in Pittsburgh five years ago. Jamil Malik Lee, 25, of Upper St. Clair and Jahli Woods, 24, of McKees Rocks, were charged with criminal homicide and conspiracy stemming from the April 9, 2021, shooting death...
Judge denies church’s request for injunction against Collier over shrine project
A federal judge has rejected a church’s effort to force Collier Township to let it move forward with an extensive redevelopment that would erect a new chapel and shrine on church property. Holy Trinity Ukrainian Catholic Church filed a federal lawsuit against the township in January asserting religious discrimination after...
Wilkinsburg man who vaped on Breeze flight pleads guilty to stealing passenger’s wallet
A Wilkinsburg man who disrupted a flight from Los Angeles to Pittsburgh by rummaging through other passengers’ luggage and stealing a wallet will serve one year of supervised release. Jaymer Ferrell, 23, pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to one count of theft on an aircraft. As part of his...
Former video gambling kingpin ‘Duffy’ Conley to pay $5M, shutter companies in plea dealVideo
Western Pennsylvania’s onetime video poker kingpin has agreed to forfeit $5 million and dissolve two skill games companies as part of a plea agreement with the state Attorney General’s Office. It is the largest asset forfeiture in a gaming enforcement case in Pennsylvania history, said Chief Deputy Attorney General Patrick...
Fired cardiologist sues UPMC, claims retaliation for reporting alleged conflict of interest by CEO
A cardiologist is suing UPMC for retaliation, claiming he was fired for reporting an alleged conflict of interest involving health system CEO Leslie Davis and what he said were racist text messages sent by colleagues. Dr. Hemal Gada filed his complaint Tuesday in federal court in Pittsburgh against UPMC and...
Critics allege Allegheny County Jail doesn’t always notify family when inmates are hospitalized
Advocates and members of an oversight board criticized the Allegheny County Jail this week for problems with notifying people their incarcerated loved ones have been hospitalized. They claimed the jail’s notification policy is inconsistently applied, leading to confusion and fear among relatives struggling to get information. “What happens now is,...
Pa. appeals court faults Pittsburgh for not reinstating fired cop
A state appeals court on Thursday found that the City of Pittsburgh committed an unfair labor practice two years ago when it failed to reinstate a police officer it fired after he was accused of sexual assault. Officer Aaron Fetty took his case to arbitration in November 2022 and won...
Allegheny County Jail starts paying incarcerated people for working, going to class
For the first time, those incarcerated at the Allegheny County Jail are being paid for the work they do. The program began March 25. During the first week, according to Deputy Warden Connie Clark, 377 people were paid. The remuneration was for providing vocational services — like cleaning, cooking, painting,...
Judge grants home detention to man charged with hate crime in attack on Jewish Pitt student
A judge Thursday released to home detention a Pittsburgh man accused of attacking a University of Pittsburgh student because he was Jewish. The decision followed testimony over two days this week during which the government sought to keep Muhammed Koc in jail before trial, alleging he was both a flight...
Zappala no longer seeks death penalty against man charged with killing McKeesport police Officer Sean Sluganski
The man accused of killing McKeesport police Officer Sean Sluganski will not face the death penalty if found guilty. On Wednesday, the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office filed a notice to rescind its intent to seek capital punishment against Johnathan Morris — just days after receiving his psychiatric records. “Experts...
Mt. Pleasant man pleads guilty to paying for videos of monkey torture
A Mt. Pleasant man pleaded guilty in federal court on Wednesday to paying people overseas to torture monkeys and record the acts on video. Joseph Garrett Buckland, 44, was charged with conspiracy to create and distribute animal crush videos in February. The videos, which are illegal to sell or exchange,...
Philadelphia man sentenced for death threats of political worker
A Philadelphia man who threatened to skin alive a woman working for the state GOP when she failed to answer his text message about being a poll worker will serve 10 months in federal prison. John C. Pollard, 63, pleaded guilty in December to one count of interstate threats. “Political...
6 men charged in antisemitic attack of Pitt student in 2024
Six men accused of assaulting a Jewish student at the University of Pittsburgh in Oakland in 2024 are facing hate crime and obstruction charges in federal court after an indictment was unsealed Monday. The defendants are accused of approaching a Jewish man as he walked in Oakland, making virulent antisemitic...
Families claim bus company let drunk van driver ferry kids, leading to Pittsburgh crash
The families of five fifth graders whose school van crashed last year in Pittsburgh are suing the bus company that employed the driver, who was drunk and continued to drive the students after fleeing the accident scene. Their complaints allege the driver, who had a previous conviction for DUI, reported...
Pine woman gets probation for giving weight-loss clients cow drugs
Months after she stopped taking the weight-loss injections dispensed by Choice Restorative Medicine in McCandless, Kayleigh Mellas started to experience stroke-like symptoms, seizures and difficulty swallowing. She was hospitalized twice, and doctors were unable to determine the cause. Months later, Mellas learned from authorities that the weight-loss medication she’d been...
