A South Greensburg man wants to be released from jail more than a year early for stealing money from his father to pay a court debt from a previous case and lying to a county judge.

Dennis Lee Kunkle, 56, will appear before two county judges next week, claiming health concerns related to the coronavirus qualifies him for an emergency release from jail.

Defense lawyer John Sweeney, in a court filing, did not disclose specific ailments but said Kunkle was added to a list of “at-risk” inmates identified by jail officials for potential emergency release because of health issues.

Westmoreland County prosecutors oppose Kunkle’s early release.

Kunkle originally pleaded guilty in 2018 to six counts for stealing money from South Greensburg Borough, where he worked for nearly three decades as the town’s secretary. As part of a deal to avoid a jail sentence, he repaid the borough $101,000 that he claimed came from his personnel pension account. He was sentenced to serve a year on house arrest.

Last December, Kunkle again pleaded guilty — this time for stealing the money he used to repay the borough from his elderly father and lying in court about its source.

Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher Feliciani sentenced Kunkle to serve nearly two years in jail and ordered that he not be paroled until June 9, 2021. Judge Rita Hathaway, who presided over the original case, re-sentenced Kunkle in January to those same terms.

Kunkle is scheduled to appear by video before Hathaway on April 29 and before Feliciani a day later on his emergency release request.

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