New bride arrested after wedding, charged with two felonies
A Sheraden woman went from tying the knot to sitting in the slammer after she was arrested at the conclusion of her wedding in City Court.
Everlina Johnson, 27, arrived Downtown in a white dress Friday morning to marry Jeffrey McGurk, 45, of McKees Rocks, who is an inmate in the jail facing 152 criminal charges in connection to a home improvement scam.
The wedding was scheduled a week earlier, when McGurk appeared in court for a special hearing in his case. But on Thursday, a day before the planned nuptials, Allegheny County police and the District Attorney’s office filed two felony charges against Ms. Johnson.
Apparently unaware of the charges, Ms. Johnson came to court for the wedding and was married in a brief ceremony in front of District Judge Craig C. Stephens. Authorities then alerted Ms. Johnson to the open warrant and took her to jail.
She is accused of helping her husband hide more than $170,000 that authorities say he stole from people he defrauded in his home improvement
scam.
McGurk owned a construction business called Emergency Service Restoration, and approached homeowners after fires to offer restoration and remodeling services, according to a criminal complaint.
McGurk promised to fix their houses, but followed through with shoddy or incomplete work. He’d persuade customers to give him control of their insurance money and then pocket the funds, according to the complaint. He amassed about $850,000 in a business bank account, police said.
In January, authorities froze that account as they investigated the alleged fraud.
McGurk was jailed in March and spent “many hours” on the phone with his then-fiance, Ms. Johnson, according to a complaint.
During those recorded calls, he discussed how much money he had left and how it should be spent. He also asked Ms. Johnson to move money from his personal bank account to her bank account to prevent authorities from freezing those funds, the complaint said.
Beginning in February, Ms. Johnson took about $170,000 from McGurk’s bank account and deposited it in her own, according to the complaint.
She is charged with dealing in the proceeds of illegal activity and criminal conspiracy.
Mike Manko, a spokesman for District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr., said Friday that the charges against Ms. Johnson were approved on Wednesday and that the timing had “nothing to do with knowing she would be at City Court today for the wedding.”
Attorney Marc Daffner, who represents McGurk, said the couple had been engaged for some time.
“I don’t know if that is the best or most professional way to do things, although it may have been the most effective,” he said of her arrest. “If there is a warrant, there’s a warrant. But I’m sure anybody in that situation would have appreciated a heads-up, so you could make arrangements to turn yourself in. It seems morally wrong to arrest someone at their wedding.”
County jail inmates get married at City Court 12 or 15 times a year, typically on Friday mornings, when the court is not particularly busy, said Angharad Stock, the magisterial court administrator.
But, she said, such affairs don’t typically end with both the bride and groom behind bars.
“As far as I know, this is a first,” she said.
Shelly Bradbury: 412-2631999, sbradbury@post-gazette.com or follow @ShellyBradbury on Twitter.
“I don’t know if that is the best or most professional way to do things, although it may have been the most effective ... If there is a warrant, there’s a warrant. But I’m sure anybody in that situation would have appreciated a heads-up, so you could make arrangements to turn yourself in ...” — Marc Daffner, attorney for Jeffrey McGurk