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Extortion charge against South Union man dropped, forgery and drug charges remain

By Susy Kelly skelly@heraldstandard.Com 3 min read

A Fayette County judge on Tuesday dismissed an extortion charge against a South Union Township man and wants the attorneys to clarify certain issues before determining whether the remainder of the illegal check-cashing case should continue.

Richard William Koslick Sr., 61, still faces two counts of forgery and one count of possession of controlled substances, but his attorney, Jack Connor, wants those dismissed for lack of evidence as well.

After a lengthy hearing, Judge Nancy D. Vernon directed District Attorney Jack R. Heneks Jr. to submit briefs illustrating case law in which prosecutors were able to proceed with forgery charges without the actual handwriting in question as evidence.

Likewise, she ordered Heneks to provide case law in which a possession of a controlled substance charge was upheld without the controlled substance having been analyzed by a laboratory. Heneks indicated he would call witnesses who are admitted former addicts to testify as lay persons and identify the drugs allegedly supplied to them by Koslick, and Vernon asked for case law to supporting that strategy.

“I have personally never seen a case where there was a forgery without the writings nor a drug case without a lab expert,” Vernon said.

State police Trooper James Monkelis indicated previously that the charges were filed after police learned that Koslick was running the check-cashing business under the name RNG Enterprises.

Monkelis said that normal business practices for Koslick included the exchange of check-cashing services for sexual favors and the illegal sale of prescription narcotics.

Three witnesses — Sonia Jarzynka of Masontown, Marzan Miller and Carol Gibson, both of Uniontown — testified on Tuesday that they obtained loans from Koslick, and that they turned over blank checks to Koslick to hold as collateral. The witnesses claimed they paid portions of the amounts they owed Koslick, but when they missed payments, he filled in the total amounts of the loans and cashed the checks. When the checks bounced, Kolick pressed charges for bad checks.

One witness, Racquel Cuppett of Bobtown, testified that some of the debt was repaid in sexual favors. She and Jarzynka both testified they borrowed the money to obtain hydrocodone and other narcotics from Koslick.

Miller said that in order to obtain a loan for $350, Kolick wanted her to provide a blank check, allegedly to prove she had a checking account in her name. Miller said a Centra Bank representative issued her a blank check from her account, but because the account was empty, the check was marked “void” at the bank. Miller said she was advised by the bank not to write anything on the check.

Miller testified that she paid Koslick back in $100 or $150 increments, but that he continued to raise the amount she owed. She told the court that he prosecuted her for a $400 bad check when her outstanding debt was actually $160.

Heneks produced the check that was used to prosecute Miller, and while she testified that the signature looked like hers, she noted that the check was not marked “void.” She said she only gave Koslick one check to hold.

“I didn’t think it could be filled out because it was voided,” Miller testified.

Vernon asked Heneks where the check marked “void” is, and Heneks replied that he believes it’s in Koslick’s possession.

Vernon will rule on the motion to dismiss the remaining charges after reviewing briefs from Heneks and Connor.

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