Paula Reed Ward stories, Page 2
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...
2 plead guilty to killing bystander, 16, during Wilkinsburg brawl
Two men accused of killing a teenager when they fired into a group of women fighting on a Wilkinsburg street will each serve up to 14 years in state prison. Eugene Camp, 23, of Whitehall and Omar Campbell, 21, of the North Side, pleaded guilty Tuesday to voluntary manslaughter before...
Federal judge to decide if Collier must amend zoning to allow church project
Township officials in Collier say they rejected a proposed shrine for the Holy Trinity Ukrainian Catholic Church because the project lacked the necessary details to justify amending zoning rules for it. But church officials say the township’s board of commissioners engaged in religious discrimination by rejecting the project. A federal...
A plea deal and acquittal leave no one left to take blame for Stowe slaying
A man who testified against his co-defendant in a Stowe homicide pleaded guilty Monday to reduced charges as part of a plea deal. Arrmon Hagans’ testimony failed to secure a guilty verdict against Cy-Miar Woods, 18. A jury acquitted him of homicide last week. Hagans, who was initially charged with...
Lawsuit accused Allegheny County Jail officers of assaulting man in intake unit
A Pittsburgh man is suing Allegheny County and several officers at the jail, alleging they beat him so severely on two separate occasions in the intake unit that they dislocated his shoulder and broke his ribs. Shawn Marple, 36, alleges excessive force, failure to intervene and municipal liability in the...
Whitehall man pleads guilty to stalking 11 women online, in person
A Whitehall man accused of stalking 11 different women online and across state lines pleaded guilty on Thursday in federal court. Brett Michael Dadig, 31, will be sentenced in Pittsburgh by U.S. District Judge Marilyn Horan on July 9. Guidelines call for a sentence of 41 to 51 months in...
Jury acquits Stowe homicide defendant who was 15 when slaying occurred
A jury Thursday acquitted an 18-year-old McKees Rocks man in a 2023 fatal shooting. Cy-Miar Woods was 15 when he was charged with killing Michael Dean, 26, of Stowe with a single bullet fired through Dean’s front door. Woods was arrested for homicide, as was Arrmon Hagans, 46. Authorities said...
Man strikes plea deal, testifies against co-defendant in Stowe drug slaying
Arrmon Hagans was facing a potential life sentence in connection with a Stowe homicide. But as part of a plea agreement, the 46-year-old might get significantly reduced prison time. All Hagans must do to uphold his part of the bargain, he told a jury on Wednesday, is testify against his...
Trial begins in Stowe homicide
Richard and Tianias Johnson were supposed to be picking up some pans to use for Thanksgiving dinner. Her son, Michael Dean, was expecting them. But when the Johnsons arrived at Dean’s house in the 800 block of Benwood Avenue in Stowe on Nov. 22, 2023, he didn’t answer the door....
Robinson man found guilty of defrauding government in defense contracts
A Robinson man accused by the federal government of making a $500,000 profit by substituting lower-quality parts to fulfill military contracts was found guilty on Tuesday of wire fraud and failure to pay taxes. Donald Smith, 75, could face federal prison when he is sentenced by U.S. District Judge J....
Pittsburgh parents sue pool drain maker after suction severely injures daughter, 3, at Mexican resort
The parents of a 3-year-old Pittsburgh girl who nearly died after she became trapped by suction from a wading pool drain at a resort in Mexico last year are suing the drain’s manufacturer. Adam Quatrini and Carolina Maria Vélez, of Shadyside, filed the lawsuit on Monday in federal court in...
Woman pleads guilty to fatal stabbing with pocketknife in Homewood
A Homewood woman will serve four to 10 years in state prison after pleading guilty Tuesday to voluntary manslaughter for fatally stabbing a woman she knew following an hours-long argument. Maurissa Plummer, 22, did not make any statement on her behalf during a brief plea hearing before Allegheny County Common...
