Embattled Freeport councilman resigns

A Freeport councilman who allegedly misappropriated nearly $100,000 in Freeport EMS funds and later paid it back has resigned.

Justin DeAngelis stepped down from his elected post. Council accepted his resignation Monday night. He wasn’t at the meeting.

In his resignation letter, DeAngelis wrote he plans to move out of the borough in early January to be closer to work.

“Resigning now will give council the time needed to appoint a replacement at the beginning of the year,” his letter states. “I want to thank everyone for their teamwork in keeping the small town of Freeport running, as it is no easy task. I feel that you will continue to be in good hands, and the town will continue to prosper in the future.”

His resignation came as a relief to some.

“It was overdue,” council President Clint Warnick said.

DeAngelis, a treasurer for both the Freeport Volunteer Fire Department and EMS, resigned from both of those positions last year shortly after the ambulance company found 62 unauthorized transactions totaling $97,808.77 between January 2017 and May 2020, according to a letter signed by Freeport EMS Executive Director Chris O’Leath.

“During that time, no other officer had electronic access to the financial accounts or records of Freeport EMS,” O’Leath wrote.

O’Leath said he was given access to the accounts in May 2020 and “immediately noticed discrepancies on the bookkeeping.”

DeAngelis has since paid back the money and the private nonprofit ambulance company has declined to press charges, borough and ambulance officials have said.

However, a state police investigation into the matter remains open, according to Trooper Anthony Vaccaro of the Kittanning station.

“It’s an open, active investigation,” Vaccaro said Friday. “We have all the documents we can forensically look into. That stuff deals with a lot of numbers, big numbers, and it’s going to take a while.”

James Swartz Jr., mayor and president of the fire department, said no borough or fire department funds were ever compromised.

In response to DeAngelis’ resignation from council, Swartz said, “I thought it should have been done a long time ago.”

Solicitor Matthew Kalina also affirmed that no taxpayer dollars were misspent, and no state and federal grant funds went missing.

Kalina fielded some questions about a letter he released earlier this year addressing rumors about the misappropriated funds.

He noted the borough, fire department and EMS were all separate entities with separate accounts and leadership.

Not borough business

Council declined to take any questions about the EMS issue during its meeting Monday.

Warnick did address it in an opening statement.

“The separation of these entities highlights the fact that we didn’t and would not have known about the situation with the allegations against Mr. DeAngelis,” Warnick said. “Following these circumstances being revealed and made known to borough council and an investigation, the council acted to confirm that Mr. DeAngelis had no access to any borough accounts, and Mr. DeAngelis was asked to resign, as he cannot be made to do so.

Another resignation

Council also accepted the resignation of Councilwoman Mary Bowlin, who was reelected to a four-year seat in November.

She cited clashes with Swartz as reasons for her departure.

Swartz thanked Bowlin for her service to the borough, particularly her work with the Freeport Renaissance Association and its community events.

Kalina said council has 30 days from when a resignation is accepted to fill a vacancy.

If it fails to do so in that time, the vacancy board has 15 days to appoint someone.

If the vacancy board cannot find someone to fill a seat residents can petition Armstrong County courts to make an appointment.

Letters of interest for either of the empty seats can be sent to the borough office, 414 Market St.