Westmoreland DA calls county grand jury a success; says another panel possible

Westmoreland County’s first investigating grand jury in more than three decades wrapped up its work with recommendations of criminal charges in three cases last week.

The grand jury, which initially included 23 members and 15 alternates, recommended criminal charges be brought against four defendants, including former Ligonier Valley police Chief John Berger on allegations of misconduct.

“This was a big challenge and a big lift, and I am very impressed with the grand jury’s investment of time and energy,” Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli said.

Ziccarelli, when she announced her plan to seat a grand jury in late 2023, said it would serve as an investigatory tool to crack tough cases, major crimes and unsolved homicides.

The grand jury was seated in April 2024 and met once or twice each month to hear and consider evidence.

According to figures compiled by the Westmoreland County Controller’s Office, the grand jury cost taxpayers just more than $36,000 through the end of November. Those costs include juror salaries, payments to expert witnesses, staff oversight and office supplies.

Ziccarelli said it is money well-spent.

“It was certainly justified to pursue justice for families. That is priceless,” she said.

Although the current grand jury remains seated, it is not expected to hear additional cases and will soon be formally released from service.

The case involving Berger, 53, of Ligonier Borough produced the final set of charges recommended by the grand jury. According to the grand jury presentment, released last week, Berger was accused of using his position to acquire prescription pills from an alleged dealer and pocketing narcotics from the department’s drug take-back box while on duty.

Charged along with Berger was Michael D. Hootman, 42, of Ligonier Township, whom the grand jury said operated as a drug dealer in the community with Berger’s consent.

The grand jury in September recommended charges against Davi J. Roman, 29, of New Kensington in two separate cases. Roman was accused of smuggling drugs into the jail, which led to a fatal overdose in September 2023. He was also accused of providing drugs to another woman, Shaunna Thomas, who died of an overdose in a New Kensington home.

Shaunna Thomas, 27, formerly of Jeannette died Sept. 26, 2023, in a New Kensington home where she was living with Roman. Police took Roman into custody on a bench warrant that day, and the grand jury presentment indicates evidence showed he smuggled drugs into the jail.

Terry L. Brumley Jr., 33, was found dead in his cell the morning of Sept. 28, 2023.

Six other inmates showed signs of drug overdoses, some of whom were treated at a hospital Sept. 27 and 28, 2023, before returning to the Hempfield jail, according to the grand jury presentment.

In March, the grand jury recommended murder charges be filed against Larry Nix II, 41, of West Brownsville, Washington County, in connection with the Dec. 9, 2022, death of 31-year-old James Michael Hayes. His body was found in the parking lot behind Kensington Arms Apartments in the 400 block of 11th Street in New Kensington with a gunshot wound to the head.

Details of the grand jury’s work are not made public.

Witnesses brought in under subpoena to testify and details of investigations remain secret until criminal charges are filed.

It’s an investigatory tool prosecutors should use, Saint Vincent College law professor Bruce Antkowiak said.

“They should do it in any case where any ordinary investigation techniques are simply not enough. It is a tactic for prosecutors to use and, in the right cases, they should use it,” said Antkowiak, a former federal prosecutor.

State and federal prosecutors routinely use grand juries as part of criminal investigations.

It’s rarely been utilized in Westmoreland County.

County prosecutors last seated a grand jury in the late 1980s to investigate alleged wrongdoing within the North Huntingdon police department. The district attorney’s office eventually brought charges, recommended by the grand jury, against the township’s police chief, police officers and the sitting district judge in connection with what prosecutors claimed was a ticket-fixing scandal.

Ziccarelli said grand juries could become more commonly used in Westmoreland County.

“Four people were charged as a result and before this, these were immovable cases,” Ziccarelli said. “We needed this resource.”