Rostraver commissioner wants to enter ARD probation program in harassment case

John J. Lorenzo, a Rostraver Township commissioner, waived his right to a preliminary hearing Wednesday on accusations that he used “burner” phones and set up fake Facebook accounts to harass political opponents and rivals.

His attorney, Martin A. Dietz of Pittsburgh, said the first-term Republican commissioner will apply to enter the court’s Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program for first-time, nonviolent offenders.

If Lorenzo completes terms of the program he can petition the court to expunge his criminal record.

The decision to waive the case was announced before the start of Wednesday’s hearing and after the state Attorney General’s Office announced it was withdrawing a felony count of intercepting communications and two misdemeanor counts of unlawfully accessing stored communications.

Lorenzo remains charged with unlawful use of a computer, criminal use of a communication facility and three counts of harassment.

Lorenzo said he intends to complete his term as commissioner.

Dietz said the decision to waive Lorenzo’s right to a preliminary hearing and to withdraw the complaints came after “very extensive negotiations” over the past seven months between him and the state Attorney General’s Office, which is prosecuting the case.

Deputy Attorney General Heather Ann Serrano declined to comment, saying the details of Lorenzo’s agreement still must be approved by a Common Pleas judge.

Lorenzo was arrested in November after a yearlong investigation by township police Sgt. Daniel Cole and county Det. John Mandarino.

Investigators were acting on a complaint by fellow Commissioner Gary N. Beck Sr., a Democrat, who told police someone had set up a Facebook account “in his name, using photographs of him in various activities and demographic information.”

Police and a Westmoreland County detective learned that Beck did not have a Facebook account.

Lorenzo also is accused of setting up a bogus Facebook account in the name of Commissioner Ray Iacoboni and sending messages from it, according to court papers. That account has been deleted, investigators said.

Investigators found evidence that Lorenzo was administrator of the account. They obtained a search warrant to verify account records and obtain access to text messages allegedly sent by Lorenzo in Beck’s name.

Former 58th District Pennsylvania House candidate Robert Prah, a Democrat, reported to township police last year that he received harassing texts from an anonymous person that were linked to Lorenzo, according to court documents.

Prah on Wednesday criticized Lorenzo’s actions and attempts to continue to maintain his innocence. He credited police and the state attorney general’s office for their work on the case.

“This is a sad day for the people of Rostraver. I would rather have been at work today, but I had to come for this hearing …,” Prah said. “What an embarrassment to the people of Rostraver Township.

“If you were innocent, why would you take ARD? (Lorenzo’s) campaign signs in 2019 stated ‘Integrity, Accountability and Honesty’ … and then he is criminally charged with this.”

After being elected in 2019, Lorenzo switched his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican.

Investigators allege Lorenzo sent multiple anonymous messages to Beck over months “using three burner numbers to mask his true identity,” according to court documents.

In a written statement to the Tribune-Review, Lorenzo continued to deny allegations.

“I want to say that this agreement … gives me the same outcome if it went trial and I won, all the charges are being dismissed at a later date and the most serious charges were dismissed today. In the end, I will have a clean record,” Lorenzo wrote.

He also thanked township residents who have supported him and his family through the incident, which he described as a “nightmare.”

”While we could’ve kept fighting and went to trial, the (state attorney general) offered this program we felt it in the best interest to move on and past this and the end result is all charges will be gone, and I can have my life back and continue serving the people of this township in the capacity I was elected to do,” he concluded.

Dietz said that if terms of Lorenzo’s planned probation interfere with his attending township meetings in person, he will attend via teleconference or Zoom.

Lorenzo remains free on $40,000 unsecured bond.

Lorenzo is the son of late township commissioner Nick Lorenzo, a Democrat who served in office for nearly 30 years before he was defeated for reelection in 2011. The elder Lorenzo died in 2014.

Lorenzo’s first term as commissioner expires in 2024.