Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 123
Former Westmoreland corrections officer claims she was victim of racial discrimination
A former Westmoreland County Prison corrections officer claims she was the victim of racial discrimination when she was subjected to derogatory statements from co-workers and inmates, unwarranted discipline and erroneously blamed for an unnecessary inspection of cells. Bonita Hughey, 53, of Jeannette, in a lawsuit filed in Greensburg, said her...
Westmoreland County to hold job fair Aug. 22
Westmoreland County is planning a job fair to help fill as many as 50 positions at the courthouse, nursing home, jail and other government and human service offices. The day-long event will be held from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Aug. 22 at the Ramada Inn in Hempfield. It’s the...
Westmoreland County seeks bids for corpse transport contract
Westmoreland County is looking to hire a company to be on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week and be available to go anywhere in the county for a pickup. On the surface, it appears to be just another job for a transportation company. But it is highly...
Washington, D.C., man convicted in Arnold child rape
A Westmoreland County jury convicted a former Arnold man of rape and other charges related to accusations made by a teenage boy who claimed he was repeatedly sexually assaulted. Delonte Haynes, 28, of Washington, D.C., could face more than five decades in prison as a result of the convictions. Jurors...
Boil water advisory remains for Jeannette, Penn Township, Irwin
A boil water advisory for Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County customers in the Jeannette, Penn Township and Irwin areas is expected to continue into Saturday. Water authority officials said Friday that an initial water quality test found no contaminants but that a second clear test is needed before the boil...
Jeannette man guilty of selling drugs that killed his brother
A Jeannette man was found guilty Thursday of selling the drugs his younger brother used just prior to his overdose death in Greensburg in late 2016. Westmoreland County jurors deliberated nearly five hours before they found Markus McGowan, 31, guilty of one felony count of drug delivery resulting in death....
Families clash outside Greensburg courthouse as Arnold child rape trial starts
Greensburg police Thursday responded to a melee that erupted in front of the Westmoreland County Courthouse to separate families involved in an ongoing rape trial. Officials said no arrests were made and testimony in the case against Delonte Haynes continued after Common Pleas Judge Rita Hathaway questioned each juror about...
Jeannette man testifies he ‘would never give anything to my brother,’ who died of overdose
Markus McGowan insisted Wednesday he did not sell the drugs that his younger brother used in fatal overdose in late 2016. McGowan testified during the second day of his trial on a charge that he sold a fatal dose of fentanyl to his brother. He said he discovered what he...
Attorney for Jeannette man accused in selling drugs that killed brother questions police investigation
The attorney for a Jeannette man on trial accused of selling a fatal dose of fentanyl to his brother in late 2016 suggested in court Tuesday his client’s stunned acknowledgement of a police inquiry was not a confession. Defense attorney Brian Aston, in his opening statement, told jurors the arrest...
Jeannette, Penn Twp., North Huntingdon areas under boil water advisory
About 3,500 residents in the Jeannette, Penn Township and North Huntingdon areas are under a boil-water advisory. Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County officials said Tuesday afternoon a water line break near 13th Street in Jeannette has left some customers with low water pressure or without service. Officials said a 36-inch...
Plea deal rejected in Arnold child rape case, suspect faces 100 years to life at trial
A Washington, D.C., man on Monday rejected a plea bargain offer that would have sent him to prison for at least 15 years for the alleged sexual assault of a young boy in Arnold. Delonte Haynes, 28, faces a potential life sentence if he is convicted of all four counts...
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...
