Greensburg officials mum on ex-police officer's pension after guilty plea in drug case

Retired city police Officer Regina McAtee collected at least $46,280 in pension payments before admitting her role in a methamphetamine distribution operation with the disgraced former Greensburg police chief.

Now that McAtee, 51, of New Kensington pleaded guilty in federal court this week to engaging in a drug conspiracy, it’s unclear whether those payments will continue.

McAtee, who served on the Greensburg force for more than 19 years, began receiving pension payments last year. She received her first payment of $5,142 on Aug. 1, according to information obtained by TribLive under a Right-to-Know Law request. Those payments continued monthly: $5,142 through December; $5,125 in January and February; and $5,160 in March and April.

City officials would not confirm whether McAtee received a pension disbursement May 1. TribLive has filed a Right-to-Know request for that information.

City Administrator Kelsye Hantz said McAtee’s pension status is under review. Councilman Gregory Mertz said legal counsel is reviewing the case.

“I have faith in the judicial system to resolve the criminal proceedings against the former officer,” Mertz said in a written statement. “The Public Employee Pension Forfeiture Act defines when a pension can be revoked. It will be reviewed with legal counsel.”

A message for McAtee’s lawyer was not returned Friday.

Meanwhile, the city denied a Right-to-Know request filed by TribLive in March asking for separation or retirement agreements for McAtee, which could shed light on her pension status. The city claimed it was not in possession of any documents and that the documents did not exist.

“The city is not in the possession, custody or control of a separation or retirement agreement with Ms. McAtee,” the response said. “One does not exist.”

This raised red flags for Melissa Melewsky, an attorney with the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association.

“It can’t be both,” Melewsky said. “You can’t say that you don’t have the document and that it doesn’t exist.”

If the documents do exist, Melewsky said, the city would be required to provide them to TribLive.

“I’ve seen agencies do that when the separation agreement is in the possession, custody or control of the agency’s contractor — most often a law firm or insurance provider, or perhaps both,” she said. “The Right-to-Know Law requires the agency to obtain a copy of that settlement or separation agreement and provide it. It’s an expressly public record.”

McAtee retired last July after a five-month, unpaid suspension and was charged March 13. She is set to be sentenced Aug. 22 and faces a maximum 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $1 million or both.

Former police Chief Shawn Denning was arrested at city hall in January 2023. He pleaded guilty in federal court April 16 to conspiracy to distribute drugs and could face at least five years in prison, prosecutors said. Denning admitted to conspiring with McAtee.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Vasquez Schmitt this week laid out evidence against McAtee that showed she conspired with Denning between November 2020 and January 2023 to order and pay for drugs from suppliers online. McAtee volunteered to have the pills — at first 10 to 20 an order, which progressed to 100 at a time — shipped to her home, the prosecutor said.

“Ms. McAtee would use some of the pills but would supply and sell some of the pills to Denning,” she said.

Investigators said McAtee made Cash App payments to the online suppliers. Text messages between McAtee and Denning showed they were working together, Vasquez Schmitt said.

In one of those messages related to 100 pills that was read aloud Wednesday in Pittsburgh federal court, Vasquez Schmitt said McAtee told Denning to “sell 40 and make money back and keep 60.”

Established in 1978, the Public Employee Pension Forfeiture Act, or Act 140, states that any state employee who commits certain crimes related to their employment is required to forfeit their pension and retirement benefits, according to the State Employees Retirement System.

Mertz deferred questions about how Act 140 might apply to McAtee’s case to city Solicitor Zachary Kansler. Kansler declined to comment Friday.

Councilman Randy Finfrock also declined to comment. Mayor Robb Bell and council members Sheila Brumley and Donnie Zappone Jr. could not be reached for comment.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the date when McAtee was charged.