Former Dry Tavern Sewer Authority official accused of removing equipment from customer
Mike Jones
The former president of the Dry Tavern Sewer Authority is accused of removing sewage equipment from a customer’s Jefferson Township property last year and refusing to reinstall it, causing the landlord to lose a tenant who was leasing the location.
State police said John Riggi went to the property at 1655 Jefferson Road near the village of Dry Tavern in late August and removed the sewage pump grinder, which costs about $4,500.
The property owner, Cindy Franks, told investigators she contacted Riggi and asked him to reinstall the equipment, but he did not have a replacement grinder, according to court documents. Franks said she then called the sewer authority’s new chairman and president, Ronald Kurtyka, who didn’t know why Riggi removed the pump, while also explaining to her they didn’t have spares available, police said.
Kurtyka told investigators that the sewer authority owns and maintains eight pumps in the system, but the one on Franks’ property is not one of them, which Riggi should have known since he previously served as the authority’s president and chairman.
Investigators then spoke to Riggi, who told troopers that he went onto Franks’ property in his official capacity to make repairs, but never received $1,800 in payment for the work, so he removed the pump, court documents allege. Police questioned why Franks “would have to make a payment on a piece of property that was supposedly not hers, on an item she didn’t ask to be fixed or replaced,” according to court documents. He then admitted that Franks did own the pump, police said, but he would not replace it until he received payment.
The investigating trooper gave Riggi a day to return the pump, but it still had not been brought back three days later. At that point, Franks told police that she had lost a tenant at her property due to the sewage issue, which would cost her $5,000 per month in rent. It’s not clear what happened to the grinder pump or whether a new one has been installed at Franks’ property.
State police charged Riggi in November with felony counts of theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property, and he was arraigned on the charges in late January. During his preliminary hearing Thursday morning before District Judge Dave Balint, those charges were downgraded to misdemeanors, but Riggi was ordered to stand trial on both counts.
His defense attorney, Adam Yarussi, could not be reached for comment Thursday. Riggi, 69, of Jefferson Township, is free on $2,500 unsecured bond while he awaits trial.