Former township supervisor calls private criminal complaint baseless
PERRY TWP. – A former township supervisor says a private criminal complaint the township is attempting to file against him is baseless and that allegations that he misappropriated $36,126 in township money in the late 1990s are not true. Late last year, the township supervisors voted to file a private criminal complaint against former Supervisor Adam Muccioli. The complaint, filed by the township’s special counsel, Samuel J. Davis, alleges that Muccioli, from 1997 to 1999, misappropriated township funds totaling $36,126.
However, since Davis filed the private complaint with the Fayette County District Attorney’s Office, no action has been taken to charge Muccioli. When private citizens, as opposed to police, file a complaint, the district attorney’s office must approve it.
In a petition filed last month, Davis asked a county judge to force District Attorney Nancy D. Vernon to take action on the request for approval. That petition indicated the allegations against Muccioli were referred to state police and that the statute of limitations on the theft charges was about to run out.
Judge Steve P. Leskinen denied the petition, but he gave Davis the option to present it again after 30 days.
Muccioli said the accusations against him are “not true” and that he is “not a criminal.”
“They keep calling it overpayment, but everyone was getting overpaid. I didn’t know it,” Muccioli said.
An independent audit conducted by Cypher and Cypher public accountants in 2000 found that, among other things, former Supervisor Richard Uhrin, in his capacity as secretary-treasurer, was overpaid $359,225, and Muccioli was overpaid $36,126 for his former position as township roadmaster.
In November, Uhrin waived indictment and pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of embezzlement and filing a false personal income tax return. He pleaded guilty to writing a single unauthorized check, dated March 19, 1999, for $6,322.48, but for sentencing purposes he accepted responsibility for $381,001 embezzled from the township from 1997 to 1999. He also pleaded guilty to filing a false personal income tax return for 1997, when he reported an income of $30,652 but received $215,075, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Uhrin is scheduled for sentencing May 14.
Supervisor A.J. Boni said the township decided to pursue the private complaint against Muccioli because Vernon has had information regarding the case for more than two years and has yet to file charges.
“The district attorney is still investigating the case,” Boni said. “We are going to continue to build our case so Mr. Davis can present it, unless action is taken prior to that. I know the D.A. is looking very hard at this and trying to do the best job possible. We just want her to either prosecute or acquit.”
Vernon said Friday that she was still looking into the case, but declined to comment further on Davis’ petition or specifics of the investigation. Vernon said the case was referred to federal authorities, but they declined to prosecute. The case is in the hands of the state police at Belle Vernon, and they are continuing to investigate the matter, Vernon said.
The township, which remains under investigation by the Internal Revenue Service for unpaid taxes, accrued a total debt of $1.3 million in the late 1990s when the alleged abuses took place.
The proposed private complaint accuses Muccioli of theft by unlawful taking, theft by deception, failure to dispose funds, misappropriation of entrusted property and securing execution of documents by deception.
Boni said Davis will re-file the petition May 3. According to Boni, Leskinen gave the township a checklist of items needed when the petition is re-filed. Additionally, Leskinen requested further documentation to support overpayment of funds.
Muccioli said the accusations against him are unfounded, and he is considering filing suit against the township for defamation and slander.
“They blackened my name,” he said.
According to Muccioli, the FBI questioned him regarding the audit, but the money he was allegedly overpaid was never discussed.
“That was no fault of mine. Rick (Uhrin) was the bookkeeper. I had nothing to do with the record-keeping,” Muccioli said.
In addition to denying the alleged overpayment, Muccioli claims that when he assumed the secretary-treasurer position in 2000 for a three-month period after Uhrin’s departure, he saw the amount of money that was legally due him and believed something needed to be changed. At the time, the secretary-treasurer was paid 5 percent of incoming revenue and 5 percent of all expenditures.
“That is when I turned the position over to the private sector. We went from paying whatever Rick earned to (paying) $13,000 a year,” Muccioli said.
He said he worked for the township for 18 years and helped to bring public water service to residents. And, he alleges that current supervisors Boni and Janet Galla told him in 2000 that even if he won re-election in 2002, he would never again hold the roadmaster position, which carries a salary.
In January 2002, at the township’s reorganization meeting, Boni and Galla did not reappoint Muccioli as roadmaster, effectively eliminating his position. Boni has served as the lone roadmaster in the township since.
Muccioli said he did not seek re-election because of what he was told and because of health problems, but he noted that he might run for supervisor in next year’s election. He said a petition filed with the supervisors after the last election showed more support for himself than Galla and Boni had combined in the election.
Boni denied Muccioli’s allegation that Muccioli never would be reappointed as a roadmaster.
Muccioli said that through the Andrews and Price law firm, he will file his lawsuit against the township in the next few months.