Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 121
Trial to start for Jeannette man accused of selling drugs used in brother’s fatal overdose
Opening statements will begin Tuesday in the murder trial of a Jeannette man accused of selling drugs his brother used to fatally overdose three days after Christmas 2016. Markus McGowan, 31, is charged with one felony count of drug delivery resulting in death. Police contend he sold $60 of fentanyl...
Hempfield man gets time served for threatening messages directed at church, pastor
A Hempfield man pleaded guilty Friday to harassment charges in connection with a series of racially-tinged phone messages left for an African-American pastor. Mark Eugene Ray, 59, was accused of leaving threatening messages and racial slurs directed at members and the pastor of Living Word Congregational Church in Penn Township....
Kunco, freed of rape conviction, pleads guilty to lesser charges; to be released
John Kunco, the Allegheny County man who served more than 28 years in prison for a New Kensington rape he said he didn’t commit, pleaded guilty Friday to reduced charges. Kunco, 54, was immediately paroled and was expected to be released from jail later Friday under terms of the sentence...
Lawyer says racial profiling, unlawful search led to client’s drug arrest at Murrysville Sheetz
The lawyer for a Pittsburgh man awaiting trial on charges he tried to sell more than $30,000 of heroin last year near a Murrysville convenience store contends his client was a victim of racial profiling. Attorney Matthew Ness, during a hearing Thursday, said criminal charges against Damonte Jones, 20, should...
Latrobe veteran accused of trying to kill family withdraws guilty plea
A Westmoreland County judge on Thursday allowed a Latrobe veteran to withdraw his guilty plea entered last year to charges that he attempted to kill his wife, stepdaughter and sister-in-law in 2017. Scott Matuszky, 47, contended he received bad advice from his former lawyer in agreeing to a plead guilty...
Convicted Latrobe rapist pleads guilty to sexually assaulting another teen
A Latrobe man was sentenced Wednesday to serve up to 10 years in prison for the rape of a 14-year-old girl. Nicholas Cook, 23, pleaded guilty to rape, statutory sexual assault and six other related offenses in connection with accusations made by a teenager who claimed she was raped twice...
Bolivar man claims new evidence supports his position that mother killed their baby, not him
A Bolivar man serving 30 years in prison for the 2011 murder of his newborn daughter contends the child’s mother confessed to her former lover that she was responsible for the girl’s death. Tim Andrews, the defense lawyer for Clayton Mibroda, 32, during an appeal hearing Wednesday said recently discovered...
Long voting lines in Murrysville could soon be a thing of the past
Additional voting precincts will be established in Murrysville for next year’s presidential election to deal with overcrowding frequently seen at particular polls. Westmoreland County’s elections board has agreed to seek a judge’s approval for a redistricting plan that, if approved, would redraw voting districts to ease long wait times that...
Hempfield murder suspect wants statements to police barred from trial
A Hempfield man insists he believed he was under arrest and required to answer questions during an eight-hour police interrogation following the shooting death of his girlfriend two years ago. Allen Eugene Trent, 55, testified Tuesday that he was handcuffed, placed in a patrol car, driven to the state police...
Judge: New Stanton teen competent to stand trial for murder of mother, brother
A Westmoreland County judge Tuesday ruled a New Stanton teen charged with the murder of his mother and younger brother is competent to stand trial. Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher Feliciani said a mental health evaluation of now 17-year-old Jacob Remaley determined he can adequately cooperate and participate with his...
Pittsburgh man sentenced in drug possession case in Westmoreland County
A Pittsburgh man was sentenced Monday to serve up to six years in prison for possession of heroin found during an early morning traffic stop last year in Salem. Nicholas Antonio Miller, 31, of Brookline, pleaded guilty to two felony drug counts and one misdemeanor offense. His vehicle was pulled...
Westmoreland wants to expand program to help curb drug use by jail inmatesVideo
Westmoreland officials want to expand a pilot program at the county prison to give soon-to-be-released inmates medicine that blocks the effects of illegal drugs. Over the past year, 44 Westmoreland County Prison inmates volunteered to participate in the program to receive counseling and potentially injections of Vivitrol. So far, 16...
Hempfield doctor wants to withdraw plea in overdose death
A Hempfield doctor scheduled to be sentenced Monday for prescribing a patient a fatal dose of methadone wants to withdraw his no contest plea entered in March. Edgar Peske, 80, in court documents filed last week, contends his conduct did not cause the 2015 death of Nicole Henderson, 30, of...
McKeesport man sues Bushy Run over ban for exposure, which he denies
A Native American re-enactor contends he was erroneously barred from Bushy Run Battlefield because of an alleged criminal incident that he said never happened. In a lawsuit filed in Westmoreland County, Todd Johnson of McKeesport contends a posting in early June on the Facebook page of the Penn Township historic...
Elderly Greensburg woman sues grocery store over buggy-related broken bones, other injuries
A Greensburg woman has sued a local grocery store, claiming she was injured by a malfunctioning shopping cart. Johnetta Battistoni, in a five-count lawsuit, contends that while shopping at the Pittsburgh Street Shop ‘n Save market in Greensburg in early October 2017 the wheels of her small push cart stopped...
Westmoreland approves storm water management plan
A new stormwater management plan could soon be in place to hopefully help alleviate flooding in Westmoreland County. The Integrated Water Resources Plan, a 217-page document, identifies areas that are at risk for floods and outlines potential efforts to keep water from overflowing waterways and encroaching on roads and homes....
Westmoreland commissioners award $1 million paving contract over objection
Westmoreland County commissioners awarded a $1 million contract to pave nearly 5 miles of roads amid a potential legal challenge of a policy that critics say freezes out non-union companies from seeking government work. The contract awarded Thursday to Derry Construction Inc. was approved by all three commissioners, including Republican...
Westmoreland County takes over $91K salary, benefits for drug task force head
Westmoreland County will begin paying the salary for the executive director of a nonprofit group aiming to reduce the number of local overdose deaths. Commissioners on Thursday approved an agreement with Westmoreland Community Action to pay the salary and other associated costs of the Drug Overdose Task Force, which operates...
Mt. Pleasant Glass Centre at full capacity
Westmoreland County has filled its eighth industrial park. Officials this week leased the last available lot in the Mt. Pleasant Glass Centre, which houses seven tenants and 116 employees. “We are thrilled to see Mt. Pleasant Glass Centre at full occupancy. It has proven to be a great area to...
Judge denies Hempfield man’s claim of ineffective counsel
A Westmoreland County judge has denied the appeal of a Hempfield man who claimed he received an inadequate defense during his 2012 trial in which he was accused of the attempted murder of his girlfriend. Common Pleas Judge Christopher Feliciani issued a 10-page opinion in which said there was no...
Man gets prison term for assault in Penn Township
An Allegheny County man was sentenced to serve up to two years in prison for the assault of his girlfriend earlier this year in Penn Township. Eric Damien Thomas, 41, formerly of North Versailles and Aspinwall, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of simple assault and summary harassment. As part...
Westmoreland bar association executive director plans to retire
The longtime executive director of the Westmoreland County Bar Association has announced plans to retire. Diane Krivoniak, 62, of Latrobe, has since 1989 served as head of the Greensburg-based organization that serves as the professional association for 500 county lawyers. “For an unprecedented stretch of 30 years, Diane’s enthusiasm and...
Early parole rescinded for New Alexandria man who killed elderly driver in 2016 speeding crash
A New Alexandria man convicted of causing a fatal crash that killed an elderly woman three years ago will not receive an early parole. Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher Feliciani reversed his ruling issued last month that would have allowed Samuel R. Grace III to leave jail before...
Westmoreland County to award $1M paving contract despite appeal over union requirement
Westmoreland County’s Democratic commissioners said Tuesday they intend to award a $1 million contract to pave local roads as a potential legal challenge looms against a policy that critics contend prohibits non-union companies from securing government work. A lawyer for Tresco Paving Corp. of Plum, in a letter to commissioners...
Jeannette man’s appeal of third-degree murder conviction rejected
A Westmoreland County judge Monday rejected the appeal of a Jeannette man serving up to 18 years in prison for the 2016 third-degree murder of an armed man. Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher Feliciani ruled there were no grounds to support the appeal filed by Jamere Ramone Glanton, who prosecutors...
