Questions surface over East Huntingdon candidates' eligibility to serve in office

Two candidates for public office in East Huntingdon who have prior felony convictions may not be able to serve if elected.

Jonathan Newill Perkey, a Republican candidate for township supervisor, and Tina Curry-Bashioum, a Republican who is running for a seat on East Huntingdon’s board of auditors face potential legal challenges should they be victorious in their bids for office in November.

According to court records, Perkey, 45, was convicted in 2005 of two felony counts of criminal mischief in connection with incidents two years earlier related to fires police said were set at a local automotive repair business and to his vehicle in a field on the grounds of his family farm.

Curry-Bashioum, 48, pleaded guilty in 2004 to felony charges that she sold illegal drugs to an undercover investigator, according to court records.

Saint Vincent College law professor Bruce Antkowiak said someone convicted of an infamous crime in Pennsylvania is barred from holding public office.

“In Pennsylvania, if it is classified as a felony that is an infamous crime. That’s the line of distinction. It allows the attorney general or the district attorney, in cases where someone with an infamous crime gets voted into office, to get them out,” Antkowiak said.

Both Perkey and Curry-Bashioum ran unopposed last spring in the Republican primary. Perkey is scheduled to run this fall against incumbent Democratic Supervisor Joel Suter. Curry-Bashioum is facing retired Supervisor Howard Keefer Jr. for a seat on the township’s board of auditors.

Keefer said the county district attorney’s office was recently notified about the Republican candidates’ criminal records.

Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli last year petitioned the courts to remove two elected constables she claimed were ineligible to serve in public office. Ziccarelli’s spokeswoman, Melanie Jones, said the district attorney would seek court intervention to remove someone elected to public office who was deemed ineligible through prior convictions for an infamous crime.

According to court records, Perkey pleaded guilty and was sentenced to serve two years on probation, nine months on house arrest and to pay restitution. His court-ordered supervision was extended multiple times because of probation revocations and was finally ended in 2018 when a $20,262 civil judgement was imposed for unpaid restitution.

Perkey in 2004 pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges related to allegations he used another person’s credit card without permission and harassment in connection with threats made against another person, according to court documents.

Perkey, when contacted Wednesday, disputed the information in the court records regarding his criminal record.

“I’m denying it all. Talk to my attorney,” Perkey said.

Curry-Bashioum conceded her criminal record includes felony convictions from two decades earlier, which included probation sentences that were elevated to 6-to-23 month jail terms after a series of probation violations.

“My life today is better than it was yesterday. I was in trouble when I was a child, but I am qualified for this job, absolutely,” Curry-Bashioum said. “I was married to the wrong person and was just a dumb young girl. That’s exactly who I was.”

Keefer, who served nearly three decades as a township supervisor and is seeking to replace his 92-year-old father as an auditor, said both Republican candidates’ criminal records should disqualify them from serving in office.

“I don’t think you want to have somebody represent your township with that kind of reputation. I’ve been in politics a long time and I’ve never seen anything like this in my whole life,” Keefer said.