Suppression motion denied in federal gun case against man suspected in Unity woman's disappearance

Search warrants in a federal weapons case against Thomas George Stanko were legally obtained, a judge ruled in denying a motion to suppress evidence against Stanko.

Authorities had probable cause to search a storage unit Stanko rented and Unity property he owned based on coded conversations he had with family and friends, said Chief U.S. District Judge Mark R. Hornak.

“… There is no basis to fairly conclude that the executing officers engaged in any misconduct or disregard of the law at all in these regards,” Hornak wrote in an opinion issued last week.

Stanko’s attorney sought to suppress evidence of 17 guns found on his Unity property and the storage unit in August 2018. Stanko has previous felony convictions that prohibit him from possessing a firearm.

Stanko, 50, of Unity is a suspect in the 2018 disappearance of Cassandra Gross. Although he has not been charged in Gross’ disappearance, Stanko has been in jail since April 2018 on unrelated charges, including the federal weapons case.

A separate indictment against him was dismissed last week after a judge ruled in May that a 2018 search at Stanko’s Potter County cabin was illegal. Prosecutors said in court filings that they could not continue with the case because evidence of a .22-caliber rifle found there was suppressed.

In the remaining case, a Westmoreland County judge had substantial reason to believe that investigators would find firearms at the Unity property and a storage unit in approving the search warrants, Hornak ruled. The combination of witness statements, hand gestures Stanko made during an in-person visit at the Westmoreland County Prison and language used during what police described as coded jailhouse phone conversations led them to look for firearms.

The jailhouse phone calls alluded to a “heavy object” in a clock that later was moved into an upstairs bedroom and more items in Christmas decorations at the Unity property, the judge said. The record shows that state police made significant efforts to determine what might be in the storage unit prior to getting the search warrant.

“The state court judge had plenty of credible information before it to support the conclusion that the storage unit was Mr. Stanko’s and that there would be guns found there,” Hornak wrote.

A status conference in the matter was set for late Tuesday afternoon, according to court records.

Gross of Unity was last seen April 7, 2018. She was reported missing April 9, 2018. The next day, state police found her Mitsubishi Outlander burned in a wooded area near Twin Lakes Park.

In the days after her disappearance, state police were seen searching two Unity properties Stanko owns. In May 2020, troopers found a few items during a search at a home where Stanko’s mother lives on White Fence Lane next to Unity Cemetery. Those items were sent for testing. Police have not publicly detailed those items.

Gross would have turned 55 last month. She was declared legally dead in January 2019 by a Westmoreland County judge. State police classify the case as a homicide. No arrests have been made.