Disbarred Uniontown attorney charged in felony thefts
Former attorney Nicholas Timperio Jr. of Uniontown is shown in this file photo from his November 2012 arraignment.
Roberto M. Esquivel
|Herald-Standard
Former attorney Nicholas Timperio Jr. (left) of Uniontown is led from the office Magisterial District Judge Michael M. Metros on Friday afternoon.
jkrysak@heraldstandard.com
and Jennifer Harr
A disbarred attorney was found hiding inside his Uniontown office building by state constables serving two felony warrants for his arrest, officials said.
State police Trooper Mark Galli, a member of the organized crime task force, filed two separate cases against Nicholas E. Timperio Jr., 44, of Uniontown on charges of theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property before Magisterial District Judge Michael M. Metros.
State constables Phil Michael and Mark Pasquale said they served the warrants for Timperio at his offices on East Main Street around 12:30 p.m. Friday.
The men said that Timperio failed to open the door for officers and that after a key holder allowed them to enter the building, Michael found Timperio inside and took him into custody without incident.
In the first felony case, Galli said that Timperio was retained by James Elwood Fisher Jr., no address available, to represent his fiancee, Janet Shaffer, no address available, in a criminal case in October 2010.
Fisher gave Timperio $8,474 to pay required restitution in the case but failed to make the payment to Fayette County Court.
In the second set of charges, Galli said that Timperio took $2,060 from Gregory Lockhart and John Gordon, no addresses available, to make restitution to a victim in a criminal case in May 2011. Timperio never made the payment, Galli said.
The felony theft charges come months after Timperio agreed to a voluntary disbarment from practicing law.
The disbarment came after Timperio was hit with a 50-page petition for discipline that alleged he took money for cases he didn’t file, told clients he negotiated settlements for which they were not paid and that he had not negotiated, failed to call clients back for months at a time, and in one case, paid a client settlement funds from a special account that never had settlement proceeds deposited in it.
In documents filed with the state, Timperio acknowledged he could not defend himself against the misconduct allegations in the disciplinary petition.
The lengthy petition for discipline stretches back to cases he took from 2003 to 2007.
In one of the instances alleged in the petition for discipline, Timperio told a woman in 2008 that he had negotiated a settlement in her 2003 car accident with the insurance company of the driver who was at fault. He showed her a check for $4,000, but would not let her have it until she signed a settlement agreement that she did not get a copy of, the petition stated.
Several days later, the woman talked with Timperio’s former law partner, who said a check never was issued to her by the insurance company, nor were negotiations done, the petition stated.
In reality, the suit was dismissed for nonactivity in June 2008. However, in September 2008, Timperio gave the woman a second check for $3,000.
He told her that the check was a “partial settlement” and she would get additional checks in the future, but the woman did not. Authorities contended Timperio used his personal funds to pay the woman.
Timperio was admitted to practice law in 1993.
Metros set bond for Timperio at $25,000 unsecured in each case.
He will face a preliminary hearing at a later date before Metros.