Denial of appeal could send former legislative candidate back to prison
With his appeal of an insurance fraud conviction denied, former legislative candidate Michael Cavanagh may be heading back to prison. Kevin Harley, a spokesman for the state attorney general’s office, said that since the Superior Court denied the appeal, Deputy Attorney General Michele Kondrad, who prosecuted Cavanagh in Fayette County Court, likely will file a motion to send him back to prison.
The 30-year-old brother of Commissioner Sean M. Cavanagh was convicted last year of trying to bilk Allstate Insurance Co. out of $1,373 in 1998.
Court papers charged that he forged a bill of repair related to a 1996 accident in which a Maryland man hit his rental car. Cavanagh, according to allegations, reported the accident to the man’s insurance company, arousing the suspicion of the adjuster because of the two-year time lapse.
Cavanagh was convicted of insurance fraud, theft by deception, forgery and tampering with records, and Judge Ralph C. Warman sentenced him to two to 23 months in jail.
He served two weeks in prison before being released on a $20,000 percentage bond while his appeal made its way through the court system.
Cavanagh has mounted two unsuccessful campaigns for the state House of Representatives, running first against state Rep. James Shaner (D-Dunbar) and then against state Rep. Larry Roberts (D-South Union Twp).