4 accused in conspiracy to intimidate woman Penn Township man allegedly stalked

Four Westmoreland County Prison inmates accused in an attempted drug smuggling conspiracy were arraigned this week on new police allegations that they threatened a woman one of the prisoners is charged with stalking, according to court papers.

Denise McGinnis, 49, of Bolivar, is accused of pretending to be a judge’s staff member when she left a threatening message Jan. 6 for the woman in an effort to prevent her from testifying against Joshuwa Samuel Petrill, 39, of Penn Township, according to court papers. McGinnis is the mother of Petrill’s former cellmate at the jail, David McGinnis, 27, of Bolivar.

New charges were filed last week against both McGinnises, Petrill and David McGinnis’ girlfriend Matraca Lynn Vrana, 26, of Cambria County. Those offenses are retaliation, intimidation of a witness, conspiracy, hindering apprehension and impersonating a public servant.

Bails for all four suspects were set at $50,000 each, according to online court records.

Westmoreland County detectives said David McGinnis on Jan. 5 made two recorded phone calls from the jail to Vrana, who then got Denise McGinnis on the line. David McGinnis and Petrill were heard dictating a message for Denise McGinnis to leave for Petrill’s accuser at 7:30 a.m. the following day.

An indirect criminal contempt hearing was scheduled Jan. 6 at the Greensburg courthouse involving Petrill and his accuser, police said.

In the message, which police said was the exact statement dictated during the phone call, Denise McGinnis claimed to be a staff member of Judge Justin Walsh. The voice mail threatened the woman that if she testified against Petrill, she could face criminal charges and damage to her career and reputation, according to court papers.

The threatening voice mail came from a phone number belonging to Denise McGinnis, police said.

Both McGinnises, Vrana and Petrill, along with two others, were arrested last month in connection with failed attempts to bring drugs into the county jail during January and February, according to court papers.

They are charged with conspiracy and attempted contraband in those cases. Jail officials unraveled the alleged scheme while listening to David McGinnis’ recorded phone calls from the Hempfield facility.

In some of those calls, he asked Vrana to hide drugs in a district court office for Petrill to pick up Feb. 5 when he was transported there for a preliminary hearing, according to court papers. Police said the attempt was unsuccessful.

Vrana is accused of working with another inmate to get drugs to a prisoner who has work release privileges, but they never met up, according to police.

Attorneys for the four suspects were not listed in the new court records. Preliminary hearings are set for March 27 in the both cases. Bails for all four suspects are set at $50,000 in the drug cases.