Suit against Franklin Township supervisors settled
The federal lawsuit filed by two former Franklin Township officials against former and current township supervisors over false allegations has been closed.
Last week, U.S. District Judge Mark R. Hornak filed an order that the case of George and Cheryl Bozek of Smock against the township, current supervisors W. Thomas McCracken and Joseph R. Marcinek and former supervisors Melvin E. Lerch Jr. and Timothy A. Kelly be closed as an agreement was reached.
According to the suit, George Bozek served as a township supervisor for 24 years and was a political adversary with McCracken and Marcinek.
The suit claimed McCracken and Marcinek acted in a hostile and disrespectful manner toward Bozek’s wife, Cheryl Bozek, who worked as the township’s treasurer and office manager for 25 years before not having her contract renewed.
In summer of 2015, Cheryl Bozek was charged with obstruction of justice, theft by unlawful taking, unlawful use of a computer and theft by deception as a result of a grand jury proceeding. George Bozek was charged with conspiracy and unlawful use of a computer.
The charges stemmed from the Bozeks allegedly deleting computer data and destroying a hard drive from a township computer when switching to a new network, which the Bozeks stated was common practice, but the defendants in the suit said it was a violation of township procedures.
All of the charges against the couple were eventually dismissed by July 2016.
The Bozeks were seeking compensatory and punitive damages as well as legal fees.
The Bozeks’ attorney, Joel Sansone, said while the details of the agreement are confidential, his clients are pleased to have the case settled and to be moving their lives forward.