Grand jury indicts clerk in sheriff’s office for tipping off suspects
A federal grand jury has indicted an Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office civilian employee, accusing her of sharing sensitive information about a large-scale drug investigation to prevent people she knew from being apprehended and then lying about it.
Erika Romanowski, 40, faces charges of obstruction of justice and making false statements to federal investigators. She was taken into custody Wednesday.
The indictment alleges that Ms. Romanowski, who is a clerk in the sheriff’s office, shared “sensitive law enforcement information,” with two “personal associates,” referred to as “Person A” and “Person B” in the document.
When Ms. Romanowski heard a senior official in the sheriff’s office discuss a planned roundup in the West End in April, she contacted Person A and Person B to make sure Person B — a “senior member of the drug trafficking organization” — knew to “stay at his house,” the indictment said. Person B passed the message along.
In a phone call, according to the indictment, Ms. Romanowski told Person A, “I didn’t hear all the details. I just heard they were hitting houses over there ... the feds called
for backup.”
Prosecutors also allege that when the FBI, which was conducting the West End investigation, asked her if she had shared sensitive information, she denied it.
The investigation Ms. Romanowski is accused of obstructing resulted in the arrests of 29 alleged gang members in June on charges of cocaine distribution. It focused on the Greenway Boy Killas, a long-standing gang in the former Greenway public housing project, whose drug distribution, authorities alleged, was fueling violence in the West End and nearby communities.
In a press release, Scott Brady, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, called Ms. Romanowski’s alleged actions “troubling,” writing that she “could have jeopardized the safety of law enforcement officers.”
Allegheny County Sheriff William P. Mullen said Wednesday that his office “learned about this matter several months ago, and we immediately and fully cooperated with the investigation.”
The sheriff’s office suspended Ms. Romanoski without pay June 20, he said, and escorted her from the premises. The office is currently going through “proper contractual protocols before we can terminate her,” Sheriff Mullen said.
The sheriff’s office did not have any “causes for concern” about Ms. Romanowski before learning of her alleged obstruction of justice, the sheriff said.
The office conducted a thorough background check before hiring her, as is typical, and did not find anything concerning, he said.
Sheriff Mullen also said the employee who discussed plans for the roundup in front of Ms. Romanowski “absolutely didn’t do anything wrong.” He declined to reveal that person’s identity. He also would not comment on Ms. Romanowski’s relationship with Person A and Person B.
The indictment said Ms. Romanowski worked in a secure area of the sheriff’s office at the Allegheny County Courthouse, Downtown.
Ms. Romanowski was hired in September 2012 and had a salary of $32,332.77. She could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Court documents did not list her lawyer’s name.