Closing arguments set in Como trial

Former Coatesville Area School District superintendent is accused of misusing school funds

WEST CHESTER » The Common Pleas jury in the case of former Coatesville Area School District Superintendent Richard Como is expected to hear closing arguments today by attorneys from both sides, and then begin deliberations after getting instructions on the law from Senior Judge Thomas Gavin.

It is anyone’s guess how long those deliberations may take. Gavin cautioned the jurors that they may have to stay at the courthouse past 5 p.m. if they are unable to reach a swift verdict.

The panel of seven women and five men, as well as three alternate jurors, has heard five days of testimony, much of it contested, and seen dozens of financial records and exhibits, as to whether Como improperly used school district funds to pay for commemorative rings for the high school football team; hired his son for a position he was not qualified for in violation of standard district policies and procedures; submitted false or improper expense reimbursement requests; and sold an electric generator to the district under false pretenses.

He is charged with more than 45 counts of theft and conflict of interest. If convicted, he faces the possibility of serving time in prison.

Richard Como is charged with more than 45 counts of theft and conflict of interest. If convicted, he faces the possibility of serving time in prison.

But the defense has been aggressive in asserting that Como did nothing illegal or wrong in his years as superintendent, and that he had acted in the best interests of the district where he began and ended a 30plus year career as an educator and administrator. The trial has been marked by testy exchanges between the prosecution and defense over whether questions of government witnesses were proper. At one point, Gavin rebuked the two sides, saying that their back-and-forth were not helpful in the long run.

Como did not testify in his own defense.

On Wednesday, testimony featured that of Rebecca Layfield, the school district’s head guidance counselor and athletic trainer. Como’s self-described best friend, who helped cook his meals and took vacations to the New Jersey shore and elsewhere with him, Layfield had helped with the purchase by the district of the electric generator, and also played a leading role in Como’s son, Matthew Como’s, hiring.

Under questioning from Assistant District Attorney Brian Burack, Layfield said that she had handled a remodeling project at Como’s West Brandywine home in the summer and fall of 2011. She dealt with contractors and subcontractors and paid the bills using her money or Como’s, since the superintendent was not proficient in handling financial affairs.

“He could’t even use (an ATM) card,” she told the jury.

One of the pieces of equipment ordered was a 14-kilowatt electric generator that Como said he needed because of thenfrequent

power outages that left him cut off from communications with the school district, she said. But when the generator arrived, the contractor found that it was too small to handle the whole house.

Attempts by Layfield to get the contractor, D.T. Beach, to pay for the wrong generator were unsuccessful, even though she said she believed Beach “owned” the machine. When attempts to sell it to neighbors or school district employees failed, testimony showed, Como took the offer to the business office.

Business manager Ken Luphold, in his testimony, told Burack that Como asked him if the district could use a generator, he said that the head of maintenance, Bob Foley, had often spoken of the need for one, so he approved the purchase of Como’s unit for $3,000, about $375 less than Como had paid for it.

But when the time came to pay for the generator, the check was made out not to Como, but to Beach. It was approved by district Controller Paul Rose, and given to Layfield, who then turned it over to Beach in the parking lot of a PNC Bank. Beach signed the check over to Como, and Layfield deposited it in his account, for which she had power of attorney.

Layfield, under questioning by Burack, at first denied asking that the check be made out to Beach instead of Como because it would “raise less questions” with the district. But after Burack confronted her with her testimony before a grand jury in May 2014, she admitted answering that it was indeed the reason she had done so.

When Layfield was asked about the transaction by Como’s lead defense attorney, Christian Hoey of Paoli, she asserted that Beach’s name was put on the check because she

considered him the rightful owner of the generator, and not because she did not want to raise “red flags.”

Hoey also questioned Foley, in his testimony, whether the generator had bene useful in cutting down on lost food that had to be destroyed when the district’s central refrigerator lost power in storms. Foley said that the earlier losses had been significant, and that he knew of no such losses in the time since the generator had been in use.

But Foley also testified that the generator had not been budgeted for, and that he had never put in a specific request for one. The purchase was presented to him as much of a done deal by Como, Luphold and Rose.

Chester County Detective James Ciliberto, who assisted in the investigation, said that during an interview with Como in 2014 before his arrest, the then-retired superintendent stated that he had not received any payment for the generator and had donated it. According to statements made to Gavin by Hoey, that bit of information was later amended by attorney Paul Rubino, who said that Como had later recalled getting the $3,000 payment.

In his defense case, Hoey’s first witness was former school board member Joseph Dunn Jr. He told the jury that Como had saved the district millions of dollars in expenses over the years, and that he was able to work closely with him on various cost-cutting measures. One of those efforts was Matthew Como’s hiring, which eventually saved the district expenses when Matthew Como took over the position of maintenance supervisor and did the work of two positions.

To contact staff writer Michael P. Rellahan call 610-696-1544.