Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 132
ATF still investigating Jeannette fatal fire evidence; trial date to be set later
Investigators continue to analyze evidence collected at the scene of a 2018 Jeannette fire in which an elderly woman died. Assistant District Attorney Leo Ciaramitaro said Friday in a court hearing for the man accused of setting the April 9 blaze that evidence collected at the scene is still being...
Man rejects plea deal in East Huntingdon pedestrian fatality case
A New Stanton motorist prosecutors contend was under the influence of drugs when he struck and killed a pedestrian on Christmas Eve 2016 in East Huntingdon rejected a plea deal on Friday that would have required him to serve up to 40 years in prison. Matthew Ramsay, 31, is charged...
Death penalty upheld for ‘Greensburg Six’ roommate Melvin Knight
A Westmoreland County judge has upheld the death penalty imposed against one of the six Greensburg roommates convicted in the 2010 torture slaying of a mentally disabled woman. Common Pleas Court Judge Rita Hathaway ruled evidence presented in a sentencing trial last November was sufficient to support a jury finding...
Vandergrift man gets up to 10 years in prison for raping 9-year-old boy
A Vandergrift man will serve up to 10 years in prison for raping a child. Brian Redmond, 33, pleaded guilty Friday in Westmoreland County to charges of rape and two other counts in connection with sexual assaults prosecutors said occurred in late 2016 and early 2017. Police also charged Redmond...
State appeals court upholds verdict in 2017 Excela stent cases; several others still pending in court system
A state appellate court affirmed a 2017 Westmoreland County jury verdict that cleared a doctor and Excela Health of wrongdoing for implanting cardiac stents into a patient who claimed they were unnecessary. The appeal involved a lawsuit filed by a North Huntingdon man who claimed five of the seven stents...
Jeannette woman rescinds murder plea, will head to trial
A Jeannette woman accused of violently beating her boyfriend to death on Thursday withdrew her guilty plea to third-degree murder. Crystal Belle, 39, pleaded guilty in September for the June 11, 2016, beating death of 19-year-old Khalil Parker, of Brentwood, Allegheny County, in her South Seventh Street home. The deal...
Trial for Rahmael Holt, charged with killing Officer Brian Shaw, postponed until August
The capital murder trial of a Harrison man charged with the November 2017 shooting death of a New Kensington police officer has been postponed until August. The attorney for Rahmael Sal Holt, 30, said in court Wednesday that he needed more time to prepare for trial, which had been scheduled...
Prosecutors want John Kunco’s attorneys to turn over evidence in rape retrial
Westmoreland County prosecutors want defense lawyers for a former Harrison man accused of a brutal rape in New Kensington nearly three decades ago to turn over evidence that could be used during a retrial. Assistant District Attorneys Barbara Jollie and James Hopson filed court documents Wednesday seeking reports and mental...
Generators protect Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County from disruptions during power outages
Water continued to flow to the more than 120,000 Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County customers, even as thousands of residents continued to deal with power outages caused by recent wind storms. Authority officials said Wednesday the water system is relying on generators at nine pump stations where power has been...
Hempfield woman seeks release from prison as she awaits child pornography trial
A Hempfield woman accused of distributing a video depicting a woman having sexual contact with a young child wants to be released from prison while she awaits trial. Amanda Smith, 29, has been in jail since her arrest last August when she was charged with distributing photographs of sex acts...
Fayette man pleads guilty in sex sting
A Fayette County man pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges that he attempted to solicit sex from a 14-year-old boy. Kelly Lee Harrington, 49, of Normalville, was arrested last June as part of a sting operation by the state Attorney General’s office. Investigators said Harrington contacted a teenage boy through social...
New office for Hempfield district judge opens
A new office building for Hempfield District Judge Mark Mansour opened for business this week. The facility on South Greengate Road replaces an office building that will be demolished later this year to make way for construction of a new senior citizen housing complex on property owned by the Westmoreland...
Westmoreland GOP commissioner candidates accuse county Democrats of hijacking conservative message
Republican candidates for Westmoreland County commissioner Tuesday accused a wing of the local Democratic Party of stealing the GOP’s message and pandering to conservative voters. Candidates Doug Chew, John Ventre and Heather Cordial issued a joint statement critical to a movement pushed by incumbent Democratic Commissioner Gina Cerilli and a...
Deputy seeking Republican nomination for Westmoreland sheriff
Steven Felder, a Westmoreland County deputy sheriff, will make his third bid to run the office he has worked in for the last 25 years. Felder, 55, of Penn Township, announced Tuesday he is seeking the Republican nomination for sheriff. Two-term Republican incumbent Jonathan Held previously said he will seek...
Penn Hills man’s murder trial delayed till May
The trial of an Allegheny County man charged with in a shooting death that occurred nearly two years ago in Jeannette is now scheduled to begin in May. Darrelle Tolbert-McGhee, 30, of Penn Hills, has been in jail since he was arrested for the April 13, 2017, shooting death of...
Former Monessen man sentenced for burning child with scalding water
A former Monessen man was sentenced Monday to serve up to 23 months in jail for an assault against a 3-year-old boy whose hands were severely burned with hot water in 2017. Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher Feliciani ordered Fred Bacon, 24, now of Butler, to complete mental...
Westmoreland judge says Hempfield bicyclist violated terms of probation
The Hempfield bicyclist who served nearly two years behind bars for obstructing traffic on county roadways insisted in court Monday he didn’t pedal a mountain bike on Carbon Road last October. Despite the denial, a Westmoreland County judge ruled David Smith, 59, violated terms of his probation and ordered he...
Commissioners criticized for settling lawsuit filed by former county jail inmate who claimed guards beat him
Westmoreland County Controller Jeff Balzer on Monday blasted a $25,000 payment to a former jail inmate to settle a lawsuit in which he claimed he was beaten by guards. Balzer, speaking during a meeting of the prison board, was specifically critical of the decision made by county commissioners to resolve...
‘Moderate’ Westmoreland County Democrats showcase candidatesVideo
It was like old times for Westmoreland County Democrats on Sunday afternoon. A polka band played on stage at the American Legion Hall in Jeannette as hot dogs, beans and cake were served. Pitchers of beer were passed around as candidates circulated among the crowd that officials said was expected...
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto plants tree in Israel for victims of Tree of Life massacre
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, in Israel for the 33rd annual International Mayors Conference, honored victims of October massacre at Tree of Life Synagogue in Squirrel Hill. Peduto posted pictures on Twitter on Sunday morning of his visit a memorial in Jerusalem, in which he said he planted an olive tree...
Two injured in Fairfield Township crash
Two people were injured in a motor vehicle crash Sunday morning in Fairfield Township. Westmoreland County Public Safety officials said a crash on Route 271 occurred shortly after 6 a.m. near Parker Road in which motorists were trapped in a vehicle. Officials did not immediately have information about the identities...
Westmoreland housing authority to build Hempfield senior apartment complex
Construction could begin this spring on a new 47-unit apartment complex for senior citizens in Hempfield, marking the first new building project for the Westmoreland County Housing Authority in more than five years. The proposed Odin View Apartments has been in the planning stages since 2013, when the authority opened...
Attorney for Westmoreland County Sheriff Jonathan Held appeals for acquittal
The attorney for embattled Westmoreland County Sheriff Jonathan Held contends at least six errors were made during his December public corruption trial, and according to a detailed appeal filed this week, wants the two remaining criminal charges against Held to be dismissed. Held, 44, of Hempfield, is currently awaiting a...
Man gets probation, house arrest for wreck that killed Norwin student
The North Huntingdon man charged with causing a car crash in 2017 that killed a Norwin High School senior will serve five years on probation and 18 months of house arrest. Victor Playso Jr., 33, pleaded guilty Wednesday to vehicular homicide in connection with the crash on Route 993 in...
Judge rejects claim by attorneys for former Franklin Regional student charged in cyberattack
Evidence collected against a former high school student charged with launching a series of cyber attacks in 2016 that disabled computer systems throughout Westmoreland County can be used at her trial, a judge ruled on Wednesday. Common Pleas Judge Tim Krieger rejected a defense claim that the computers and internet...
