Former Ligonier Valley police chief John Berger faces drug, theft charges after grand jury probe

A Westmoreland County grand jury has charged former Ligonier Valley Police Chief John Berger with drug and theft-related offenses, alleging he used his position to acquire prescription pills from an alleged dealer and took narcotics from the department’s Drug Take Back box while on duty.

Berger turned himself in to authorities Friday and was being processed at the state police station in Greensburg.

Berger and a second defendant, Michael Hootman, were charged as a result of an ongoing drug investigation and a presentment before a Westmoreland County grand jury.

According to Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole W. Ziccarelli, evidence and testimony presented before the grand jury detailed a mutual relationship between Hootman and Berger, who was the Ligonier Valley police chief from 2019 until May 2023.

Several witnesses testified that Hootman was their source for narcotics, including the alleged trafficking of marijuana, cocaine and various pharmaceuticals. Ziccarelli said text messages revealed Berger was receiving prescription pills from Hootman for back pain as early as January 2021 and picked up pills from Hootman while he was on duty as police chief.

In April 2023, state police conducting surveillance at Hootman’s residence observed Berger in his unmarked police cruiser making an exchange with Hootman. Text messages indicated that the meetings were for the purposes of Berger obtaining pain medication.

Investigators executing a search warrant on Hootman’s residence and Berger’s police vehicle seized cocaine, marijuana, testosterone and prescription pills from Hootman’s residence. Inside Berger’s police vehicle, they discovered discarded prescriptions, not belonging to Berger, that are believed to have been taken from the police station’s Drug Take Back box

Ziccarelli said Berger, in his capacity as police chief, never conducted an investigation into drug trafficking by Hootman or arrested Hootman for the delivery of narcotics Berger personally observed.

Berger has been charged with bribery, theft, obstruction of administration of law, criminal use of a communication facility, delivery of a controlled substance, acquisition of a controlled substance by misrepresentation and receipt of a controlled substance.

During the course of the investigation, police observed several other people accessing Hootman’s property or meeting Hootman in short durations, appearing to be consistent with the sale of narcotics.

Hootman is charged with bribery and drug-related offenses related to the trafficking of narcotics.

A preliminary hearing for Berger was scheduled before District Judge Allison Thiel in Ligonier.

Berger was fired as chief by the Ligonier Valley Police Commission on May 9, 2023, five days after a raid by federal and state officials at the police station.

Commission solicitor Mark Sorice has said the raid focused solely on Berger — including seizure of Berger’s personal phone and police vehicle. Sorice said at the time of Berger’s dismissal as chief that he was “not able to continue in that particular capacity with this cloud hanging over him.”

Berger is awaiting trial on separate charges that he sexually assaulted a patient in April 2024 while working at an addiction treatment facility in Donegal Township.

Berger was charged with seven counts including involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault and two charges of institutional sexual assault.

Attorney Dan Joseph, representing Berger, said he has maintained his innocence in that case. Joseph contends that Berger’s relationship with the patient was consensual.

At a 2024 court proceeding, Common Pleas Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio rejected a defense motion to dismiss two sexual assault counts based on an argument that the facility where the alleged assault took place was not a licensed mental health treatment center.

Consent is not a defense for institutional sexual assault counts, prosecutors claim.