Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 118
Judge rejects Hempfield man’s plea bargain in knife attack case
A Westmoreland County judge on Wednesday rejected a proposed plea bargain for a Hempfield man charged with injuring a neighbor during a knife attack in June. Vincente Alejo Andres, 34, was expected to plead guilty to aggravated assault and simple assault charges in return for nine to 23 months in...
Prosecutors: Westmoreland judge should release juror names in Held case, as Trib asked
In a legal argument filed with the Pennsylvania Superior Court, state prosecutors contend a judge erred when he declined to immediately make public the names of jurors in the December public corruption trial of Westmoreland County Sheriff Jonathan Held. The Tribune-Review appealed a ruling from senior Common Pleas Judge Timothy...
Greensburg woman competent to stand trial in child sex case
A Greensburg woman charged with recording herself in a sex act with a young child was ruled competent to stand trial on Tuesday. Corby Jo Kinzey, 24, was charged along with her ex-boyfriend and another woman of sex counts related to the incident in which police contend she had sexual...
Monessen woman gets probation after making deal in drug operation case
A Monessen woman was sentenced Tuesday to three years probation in connection with what police said was a drug distribution ring operating out of a Greensburg doctor’s office. Rebekah Rose Carwithen, 25, pleaded guilty to one count of drug possession and in return state prosecutors dismissed charges of conspiracy, corruption,...
Despite plea for leniency, Donora man gets up to 30 years for attack on girlfriend in Hunker
A Donora man was sentenced Monday to serve up to 30 years in prison for the assault and strangulation of his pregnant girlfriend. Travis Magash, 33, was convicted after a three-day jury trial in May in connection with the attack against 25-year-old Danielle Rose Thompson at her home in Hunker....
Unity man already imprisoned on child porn charges pleads guilty to raping boy
A Unity man already serving an 11-year federal sentence for possession of child pornography on Monday pleaded guilty to additional charges of raping a child. Westmoreland County prosecutors said Timothy Piper, 24, had sexual contact with a young boy over a seven-year period that ended in 2015. According to court...
Westmoreland transit seeking new bids for bus, shared-ride services
After a bumpy ride over the past year, including nearly a quarter-million dollars in fines, the Westmoreland County Transit Authority could move on from the company that runs its bus and shared-ride system. National Express, which in 2018 was awarded a five-year, $29.5 million contract, has been in the cross-hairs...
Judge rules Turtle Creek man will have separate trials for Westmoreland drug deaths
An Allegheny County man charged with supplying drugs used in two fatal overdoses in Westmoreland County will have separate trials, a judge ruled Friday. Common Pleas Court Judge Tim Krieger, in a five-page opinion, said that it would be prejudicial for one jury to hear two separate cases against Demetrius...
Westmoreland changes contractor for moving human remains
For the first time in about two decades, a new company will be responsible for transporting human remains in Westmoreland County. Commissioners awarded a one-year contract to pay $122,500 to Professional Cremation Services LLC of Youngwood for the service. The company’s bid was $51,000 less than the one submitted by...
Westmoreland commissioners honor Hempfield’s Terry RanieriVideo
Westmoreland County commissioners on Thursday issued a proclamation honoring the life of Hempfield’s Terry Ranieri. Ranieri, 64, a 1975 graduate of Hempfield High School, died from cancer on Aug. 22. Commissioners Gina Cerilli, Ted Kopas and Charles Anderson presented the proclamation to Ranieri’s brothers Tony and Eddy and their sister,...
Ex-Westmoreland County employee gets $37,500 workplace settlement
Westmoreland County commissioners on Thursday agreed to resolve a complaint by a former human resources employee at the courthouse who claimed a hostile workplace forced her to retire in 2017. Assistant county solicitor David Regoli said a complaint filed by Deborah Liprando with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was...
Westmoreland judge awards Allegheny Township woman $600K in slip-fall case
An Allegheny Township woman has been awarded $600,000 for injuries she suffered two years ago outside of a township mini-mart. Following a two-day trial, a Westmoreland County jury ordered Graft Oil of Oci Inc., the owners of the Honey Bear Mini-Mart on Route 356 in Allegheny Township, to pay for...
North Huntingdon site could have been Cracker Barrel, lawsuit claims
A North Huntingdon landlord is suing an equipment rental company, claiming the owners scuttled a deal to sell the site to interests that would have brought a Cracker Barrel restaurant to the location. In a lawsuit filed in Westmoreland County, MB Realty Group contends Sunbelt Rentals Inc., it’s principals and...
Westmoreland water authority plans nearly $10 million in upgrades
Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County board members Wednesday approved spending more than $9.6 million to relocate and replace water lines throughout the county. The construction projects include the replacement of 2.77 miles of older, cement and asbestos water lines in Sutersville with plastic pipes. That project is expected to cost...
2 counts tossed against Youngwood woman in alleged assault over Steelers broadcast
A Westmoreland County judge on Wednesday dismissed two charges against a Youngwood woman accused of assaulting her elderly mother during a dispute over the volume of a Steelers game broadcast. Common Pleas Court Judge Tim Krieger said there was not enough evidence to support charges of conspiracy and making terroristic...
Unity woman’s fraud trial delayed while son, co-defendant remains in federal custody
The criminal fraud trial of an elderly Unity woman will be delayed because her son and co-defendant remains in federal custody on unrelated offenses. Almira Stanko, 83, is awaiting trial in Westmoreland County on three felony counts, including conspiracy and fraud, in connection with allegations she attempted to use her...
Charges dismissed against former Jeannette man accused of interfering with firefighters
Westmoreland County prosecutors Monday dismissed criminal charges against a former Jeannette man accused of interfering with firefighters as they attempted to extinguish a blaze at his home last year. Keith Cerqueira, 59, now of Trafford, pleaded no contest to a lesser charge, a summary count of disorderly conduct, and was...
Judge declines to toss fatal drug delivery case against Derry Twp. man
Drug delivery resulting in death charges will stand against a Derry Township man accused of selling the lethal dose of fentanyl-laced heroin that killed a Greensburg man in 2017. In a ruling issued Monday, Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher Feliciani said there has been no violation of the...
Westmoreland tax sale draws huge crowd, pulls in $1.08MVideo
The South Greensburg rental home where Rich and Erin Paul have lived with their three young children for five years was up for sale Monday after its owner failed to pay property taxes. The Pauls were among nearly 150 bidders who attended what Westmoreland County officials said was the largest...
Laurel Mountain Borough man expected to plead guilty in girlfriend’s death
A Laurel Mountain Borough man jailed for the last five years as he awaits trial for the first-degree murder of his live-in girlfriend is expected to plead guilty Tuesday to a lesser charge. The lawyer for Gregory Randall, 62, told a Westmoreland County judge that the trial scheduled to begin...
Former Hempfield doctor to stand trial in fatal overdose case
A Westmoreland County judge ruled Friday that a Hempfield physician can withdraw his no contest plea to charges that he over-prescribed methadone to a patient who overdosed and died. Dr. Edgar Peske, 80, will go to trial in December or early next year on charges of drug delivery resulting in...
Teen charged in Export shooting will be released from jail
A teenager charged with four adults in connection with a shooting last weekend in Export will be released from jail to await trial. Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Tim Krieger set a $50,000 bond on Thursday for 16-year-old Connor J. Yakoweloff of New Alexandria and ordered that he remain...
Participant will be resentenced for role in fatal Greensburg torture case
The youngest member of a group of six Greensburg roommates convicted in the torture and murder of a mentally disabled woman nearly a decade ago will be sentenced for the third time in December. Angela Marinucci, 27, has twice before been sentenced to serve life in prison without the possibility...
Monessen bus driver charged with having child porn faced similar charges 2 decades ago
A Monessen school bus driver charged this week by federal authorities for possession of child pornography had previously been barred from driving children after he was arrested on similar charges in 2001. This week’s indictment of Jack Brian Laforte, 54, came nearly two decades after he was charged in Westmoreland...
Pennsylvania Turnpike drug suspects claim illegal search
Two Philadelphia men arrested last year on the Pennsylvania Turnpike after police found 27 pounds of marijuana in their car trunk contend the vehicle search was illegal and the criminal charges against them should be dismissed. Lawyers for Joseph Ricardo Wright, 33, and and Dwayne Dwight Augustus, 36, contend police...
