Ex-constables in county charged with $132K fraud
Two former state constables in Allegheny County have been charged with filing 673 fraudulent invoices while on the job and wrongfully pocketing more than $132,000 over an eightmonth period in 2018.
A detective with the Allegheny County district attorney’s office filed complaints Friday against Anthony J. Cioppa Jr., 48, of Wilkins and Steven Wright, 46, of Wilkinsburg. Each is charged with theft by deception and conspiracy.
The constables are alleged to have worked together to bilk the system for $75,892.73 in Mr. Cioppa’s case and $56,132 in Mr. Wright’s.
In addition, Mr. Cioppa is charged in a second case in which he’s accused of taking more than $11,000 to pay for a defendant’s fines, court costs, restitution and other services without rendering services.
A third constable also was charged Friday in a separate case by the DA’s office. Richard Salters, 46, of McKees Rocks is accused of lying on constable insurance liability applications by claiming he was certified to carry a firearm and that he carries a firearm while on duty,
Mr. Cioppa already faced legal troubles before the latest cases were filed.
In October, the DA’s office accused him of intervening in a child custody dispute in 2018 when authorities said he illegally helped a woman whisk her sons out of state and then charged her hundreds of dollars for his aid. He is facing trial in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court.
Mr. Cioppa’s lawyer in that case, Ryan Tutera, declined comment Tuesday, saying that he was in the process of determining whether a conflict of interest would hinder his continued representation.
The fraud allegations developed in the aftermath of the child custody case.
“This prompted us to take a closer look at his vouchers, as would any allegation of impropriety against any county vendor,” said Louis Takacs, spokesman for the county controller’s office.
The controller’s office said it works closely with the DA’s office and court administrators “to verify that payment vouchers submitted by constables are legitimate and comply with all laws and regulations.”
Constables are elected or appointed to perform a range of services, including providing security at district judges’ offices, transporting and guarding prisoners and defendants, and serving warrants and subpoenas. They charge flat fees or hourly rates depending on the service and submit vouchers to the Magisterial District Courts. The rules and explanations are detailed in the Allegheny County Constable Handbook.
An audit of Mr. Cioppa’s vouchers revealed what the controller’s office called “questionable submissions.”
In early November, the office contacted the DA’s office and forwarded a spreadsheet of invoices, most of which also were submitted by Mr. Wright. About 2,000 of them were deemed fraudulent, according to a criminal complaint.
In the process of reviewing paperwork and interviewing staff at the offices of several district judges where the constables did business, Inspector Darrel J. Parker said he found five ways in which the constables tried to rook the system.
They included billing for work at one district judge’s office while doing security at another at the same time; claiming that they held defendants for hours at hearings when defendants were never contacted or arrested by constables and appeared of their own accord; and billing twice for the same defendant and warrant.
Sometimes, paperwork was missing, according to the complaint.
“Many times the warrants were withdrawn or handled by the [district judge’s] office months or even years prior to the date that constables Cioppa and Wright claimed that they served them,” the complaint said.
Most cases stemmed from work purportedly done for the office of District Judge Kim Hoots in Wilkinsburg, the complaint said.
In one case, the complaint said, the constables claimed that they held a defendant for seven hours over a parking ticket. In other cases, the constables charged the county a $231 fee when a parking ticket was for $5.62 or was dismissed without a fine or payment.
“It was determined that hundreds of claims for services performed in [District Judge] Hoots’ office by Constable Cioppa were never done ...” the complaint said. “The courtroom [judge] and staff expressly disputed the ‘holding’ of defendants for 67 hours for parking tickets.”
In the other case, Mr. Cioppa was supposed to take care of a man’s court costs in relation to restitution for a traffic accident and oustanding warrants for traffic violations. But, the complaint said, Mr. Cioppa pocketed $11,280 from the man, his brother and his girlfriend but did not make any payments.
The DA’s office charged Mr. Cioppa with theft by failure to make required disposition of funds received and deceptive or fraudulent business practices.
Neither Mr. Cioppa nor Mr. Wright are currently certified through the state as a constable.