Sep 25, 2008 2 min read

Wright, who has been convicted on a myriad of charges in Pennsylvania, Georgia and Florida, bilked dozens of people out of millions of dollars, and last year was charged in a massive check-kiting scheme that took $1.5 million from several banks in Florida. Locally, state police arrested Wright for stealing more than $100,000 from two Fayette County residents after posing as an investment broker, and using a fake name.

To answer for those charges, filed in 2005, authorities had to file papers to extradite Wright from a Florida prison.

He was there serving time on other theft charges.

Wright was charged with using the identity of his nephew, Robert L. Beck, or the alias Rod Beck, while he promised a Hopwood woman and her son returns on their investments between March 2001 and August 2002.

Police said that Shirley Kitchman gave Wright $45,000, and he promised a $48,500 return on her money. But as the due date for the return approached, police alleged that Wright asked Kitchman for an additional $5,000 and promised an $85,000 return.

Wright purportedly gave her $6,200 in checks, which were returned because the account upon which they were drawn did not have sufficient funds.

He also was charged with convincing Kevin Kitchman to invest a total of $63,200, promising a return of $107,500.

When the complaint was filed two years ago, police said that six county residents invested almost $400,000 with him.

All but two of the charges filed against Wright were either dismissed at the county court level or withdrawn.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of bad checks and served six months probation for both counts.

Not long after his probationary sentence was served, Wright was charged federally in Florida with opening checking accounts in several banks, writing checks and cashing them without having the funds available to cover them.

One of those checks was written to a Uniontown lawyer collecting restitution payments for the people in Fayette County from whom Wright had stolen.