Aug 21, 2003 By Jennifer Harr 3 min read

An Independent candidate for Fayette County commissioner will likely have to wage part of his campaign behind bars. The state Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal filed by Michael Cavanagh, leaving him with little legal recourse but to begin serving out his prison sentence of two to 23 months for insurance fraud.

In the decision, handed down Tuesday, the court indicated it would not hear Cavanagh’s appeal of a Superior Court ruling that upheld his conviction. It was unclear Wednesday when Cavanagh would begin serving his sentence or if he would serve it at Fayette or another county jail.

The Marion Street, Uniontown, man was convicted in April 2001 of insurance fraud, forgery, tampering with records or identification and criminal attempt to commit insurance fraud.

The state attorney general’s office charged that he submitted a fake bill for repair work done in 1996 to a rental car. At trial, one representative of Allstate Insurance testified that she became suspicious of the claim because it was filed in 1998, two years after the accident.

The bill, faxed by Cavanagh to Allstate, was for $1,373 and had comments written on it from the person who did the work. Prosecutors charged that the entire bill, including those comments, were forged by Cavanagh and the actual work cost only $106.

Through his trial attorney, Brent Peck, Cavanagh maintained his innocence, although he did not take the stand in his own defense. Peck maintained that Cavanagh did pay nearly $1,400 for repairs, but that the repairman wrote the bill up at $100 to avoid paying sales tax to the state on the higher amount.

After Warman sentenced him, Cavanagh, who could not be reached for comment Wednesday, served approximately two weeks in prison before he was released to pursue an appeal. At minimum, Cavanagh will have to serve about 1 ½ months in jail before he can be released. That will leave him about a month of campaign time before the November election if he is released with his minimum time served.

Before his felony conviction in 2001, Cavanagh had the opportunity to avoid a criminal record all together.

In March 2000, three months after his arrest, Cavanagh was accepted into the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program (ARD). The program is for first-time, non-violent offenders and offers a probationary period, at the end of which, the criminal charges will be expunged.

Cavanagh was admitted to ARD for one year. Several months in, however, he was removed for failure to perform court-ordered community service or make restitution connected to the case.

With the final chapter of Cavanagh’s case seemingly closed, there still remains the possibility that someone could challenge his candidacy. Under a provision of the state Election Code, “no person convicted of embezzlement of public moneys, bribery, perjury or other infamous crime” is eligible to run for office in Pennsylvania.

While Cavanagh’s conviction does not fit into any of the specifically mentioned crimes, the state Supreme Court has ruled that an “infamous crime” is one that “violates public trust.” It would be up to a court to determine, if Cavanagh’s candidacy is challenged, whether his convictions fit into the category.

Cavanagh ran twice for the state legislature, losing once to state Rep. Larry Roberts, D-South Union Twp., and another time to state Rep. James Shaner, D-Dunbar.