Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 25
Unity man to serve prison sentence for check scheme to pay for stepdaughter’s wedding
A Unity man was ordered to serve nearly seven years in prison for bilking vendors at his stepdaughter’s wedding and related weapons offenses. Joseph A. Malago, 52, was convicted in December by a Westmoreland County jury of 18 criminal counts in four separate cases. Prosecutors alleged he wrote a series...
Salem woman to serve jail sentence for drunk driving crash that injured bicyclist
Nearly three years after Edward Chatterton was hit by a drunk driver as he bicycled in Export he continues to have physical, emotional and financial struggles. Chatterton testified Tuesday during a sentencing hearing for the woman who prosecutors said was responsible for the crash. “I used to live an active...
Westmoreland Register of Wills fined, agrees to resign
Westmoreland County Register of Wills Sherry Magretti Hamilton, whose management of the office has been sharply criticized, was ordered Monday to pay a $10,000 fine as she agreed to step down from her elected position at the end of the year. The agreement resolves a criminal contempt of court case...
Protesters call for resignation of register of wills hours ahead of sentencing hearing
Protesters called for the immediate resignation of embattled Register of Wills Sherry Magretti Hamilton on Monday morning, hours ahead of a court hearing to determine her penalty for contempt of court. Hamilton faces a potential jail term and fines when she is sentenced by Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judges...
Westmoreland register of wills meets deadline, pays $422,000 into county treasury
More than $422,000 from court fees collected by the Westmoreland County Register of Wills Office was turned over Thursday to the county treasury. Treasurer Jared Squires confirmed the embattled row office met a court-ordered, afternoon deadline to turn over funds it received from routine office filings since the start of...
Westmoreland County launches human services expansion
Officials with Westmoreland County’s burgeoning human services department said an expansion of services launched this month will improve the quality of care for many of its 35,000 clients. A newly formed six-member complex care unit will oversee the consolidation of services administered by the county’s separate human services departments including...
Embattled Westmoreland Register of Wills vows to remain in office through 2027
Westmoreland County Register of Wills Sherry Magretti Hamilton, who faces a potential jail sentence next week for contempt of court, said Wednesday she will not seek reelection when her term expires at the end of 2027. “After careful consideration and prayer, I have decided to retire from politics at the...
Therapy dogs offer comfort for Westmoreland County Courthouse employees
Employees in Westmoreland County’s controller’s office spend much of their work day staring at numbers. It was quite the welcome distraction Wednesday morning when volunteer handlers brought a parade of therapy dogs into the first-floor courthouse office for belly rubs and heads scratches during a brief 15-minute break in the...
Judge rules Lower Burrell man accused in slaying of Mogie’s owner is incompetent to stand trial
The case against a Lower Burrell man accused in the fatal shooting last year of the owner of Mogie’s Irish Pub in Lower Burrell will be postponed indefinitely. A Westmoreland County judge Tuesday found the accused killer, Nathan Salem, incompetent to stand trial. “He has lost touch with reality,” testified...
Judge rejects plea deal for Murrysville man in mother’s stabbing
A Westmoreland County judge on Tuesday rejected a plea bargain for a Murrysville man accused of the attempted murder of his mother. Common Pleas Court Judge Tim Krieger said the deal that would have allowed Andrew J. Farbarik to plead guilty to lesser charges and serve four years on probation...
Westmoreland repositions county website as part of security upgrades
Westmoreland County has a new address. While the county courthouse remains at the same location in downtown Greensburg where it has stood for the last century, it has a new home on the web. In what officials said is a move to enhance security, the county announced it transitioned to...
Jeannette man to serve probation for assault on Vandergrift police
A Jeannette man asked for and received a chance to turn his life around when he was sentenced Monday to house arrest and probation for an assault against a Vandergrift police officer. The officer suffered what likely are career-ending injuries during an escape attempt by Chad Foster nearly three years...
Jury finds New Kensington man not guilty of 1st-degree murder, deadlocks on remaining homicide counts
Following marathon deliberations that lasted more than 14 hours over two days, a New Kensington man was found not guilty of first-degree murder while the jury failed to reach a verdict on remaining counts that included allegations he shot and killed another man during a botched robbery four years ago....
Jury acquits Jeannette man in Rialto stabbing
Anthony J. Sharp pumped his fists and embraced dozens of cheering family members and friends moments after a Westmoreland County jury found him not guilty of attempted murder and other offenses in connection with the stabbing of a man outside of the former Rialto Bar and Bistro in Greensburg. Jurors...
Jury in New Kensington murder trial will resume deliberations
The jury in the case against a New Kensington man accused of a murder 4½ years ago will continue deliberating Friday morning. They are deciding the fate of Latresse Williams, who is accused of slaying Anthone Williams in New Kensington in January 2020. The attorney for Latresse Williams, 33, on...
Defense says new video backs self-defense claims in Rialto stabbing
A defense attorney claims new video shown to a Westmoreland County jury on Thursday supports the claim that his client was justified when he repeatedly stabbed another person during a melee outside of the former Rialto Bar and Bistro in downtown Greensburg. The video depicts the moments after Joseph Williams...
Delmont man convicted of attempted sexual assault
A Delmont man was convicted Wednesday of the attempted sexual assault of a woman whom investigators claimed he later threatened in a failed effort to prevent her from testifying against him. A Westmoreland County jury deliberated about an hour before it returned guilty verdicts against Brandon Pyle, 28, in connection...
Police defend investigation into stabbing at former Rialto in Greensburg
A Jeannette man told police he had a knife and was prepared to defend himself from a former high school friend as the two fought outside the former Rialto Cafe in downtown Greensburg. Jurors, during the third day in the attempted homicide trial of Anthony Sharp, 23, watched video of...
Prosecutors: Arnold man’s murder a robbery gone bad
Westmoreland County prosecutors said DNA evidence will prove a New Kensington man attempted to rob and kill an Arnold man in a vacant parking lot more than four years ago. “Anthone Williams was set up by the defendant to be robbed of drugs and money. At an abandoned projects, there...
Stabbing victim testifies in Rialto attempted murder trial
Joseph Williams told a Westmoreland County jury he had no memory of the seconds that preceded a violent encounter outside the former Rialto Cafe in downtown Greensburg that left him hospitalized with as many as 10 stab wounds. Williams, 24, testified Tuesday during the second day in the trial of...
Unity man gets up to 16 years for role in Latrobe woman’s 2019 deadly overdose
A Unity man was ordered to serve up to 16 years in prison for selling drugs that caused a fatal overdose of a Latrobe woman in 2019. Chad E. Ghrist, 46, pleaded guilty Monday to drug delivery resulting in death and other felony counts in connection with the death of...
Jeannette man claims Rialto stabbing justified as self-defense
The lawyer for a Jeannette man accused of the attempted murder of a former high school friend with a pocket knife said Monday his client acted in self defense. Defense attorney Stephen Colafella told jurors that Anthony J. Sharp was tackled and flailed with a knife to break free from...
Former Arnold cop pleads guilty to filing false report
A former Arnold police pleaded guilty Monday in connection with allegations that he lied to investigators after he staged what he called a hit and run crash of his city-issued SUV. Ryan Matthew Clark, 33, of Sarver, told a Westmoreland County judge he was ready to move on with his...
Register of wills conservator no stranger to Westmoreland courthouse
Jim Antoniono’s travels have taken him from Cold War-era Germany to the Westmoreland County Courthouse, through thousands of miles of mountain trails and into courtrooms and boardrooms. After a more than a half- century, Antoniono, 78, of Unity, will return to his roots in county government when on Tuesday he begins...
Bids to demolish Jeannette’s Fort Pitt Brewery range from $335K to $1.4M
It will cost less than expected to raze the former Fort Pitt Brewery complex in Jeannette. Proposals from 10 demolition companies were opened Friday for the job that when completed will remove the industrial complex that has been a presence in the city for more than a century. Bids for...
