More On Chuck McCullough

There's more details from the P-G. In case you didn't know:

The Allegheny County councilman accused nearly two years ago of improperly making $40,000 in political contributions from an elderly widow's trust fund has been charged with 23 criminal counts, including theft, misapplication of property, criminal conspiracy and making false reports.

Charles P. McCullough, who was elected in 2007 after some of the allegations had come to light, was arrested yesterday and released on $20,000 straight bond.

And a word from his attorney:

"He feels very strongly that he is innocent of the charges, and we will fight them vigorously," [Mr. McCullough's attorney, Clifford] Levine said.

And let's remember that this is still America where an accused is innocent of the charges until proven guilty. But what are the charges?

The investigation involves Mr. McCullough's handling of the trust account of Mrs. Jordan, a 91-year-old widow in Upper St. Clair. The investigation began in April 2007, following the publication of a story in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette revealing that Mrs. Jordan had been the single largest donor to four local Republican candidates even though she hadn't voted in seven years.

Mrs. Jordan, who resides in nursing home, told the Post-Gazette in an interview that she never approved the $40,000 in donations. She attributed the checks to her attorney, Mr. McCullough, who had power of attorney over her financial affairs and represented her in her trust fund.

And:

Officials say another $10,000 donation -- this one without Mr. McCullough's name on it -- was made to Catholic Charities at the last minute to ensure the organization met its fund-raising goals. Mr. McCullough's wife was the executive director of the charity at the time.

Well that doesn't look good either. You might ask yourself how did these two (McCullough and Jordan) meet?

Court papers accuse Mr. McCullough -- who met Mrs. Jordan in his capacity as solicitor for Upper St. Clair during a dispute with her over installing sidewalks in front of her home -- of inappropriately using a power of attorney dated Feb. 15, 2006. [Emphasis added]

Whah? Is that even ethical? How much time elapsed between the meeting and his becoming her Power of Attorney? Isn't that a conflict of interest of some sort?

Then there's this part. Considering that McCullough was the solicitor for Upper St. Clair, what can be made of this?

Five days after the article ran in the Post-Gazette, Mr. McCullough went to the Upper St. Clair police and filed a complaint against reporter Dennis Roddy, who wrote the initial story.

Upper St. Clair Police Chief Ronald J. Pardini testified to the grand jury that Mr. McCullough alleged that Mr. Roddy had agitated Mrs. Jordan, forcing her to hide in a bathroom, and requiring her caretaker to run and get help. Mr. McCullough also said that Mr. Roddy failed to identify himself as a reporter or sign in to the nursing home.

However, a police investigation determined those allegations were not true.

So despite all the allegations of financial impropriety, McCullough was looking to sick the cops on Dennis Roddy.

Over at the Trib there's basically the same story though this part is added:

Jordan has a history of giving conflicting directions and opinions, and several lawyers will testify to that at trial, defense attorney Clifford Levine said. Levine denounced the grand jury process and said an Orphans' Court review and audit of the Jordan estate should have concluded the case.

When I first looked at the piece on line this morning, I noticed what had to be the worst picture (ever) of McCullough's attorney, Clifford Levine, who I met a few times during the past presidential election. Then I took a closer look.

That's what it looks like as of 7am this morning. Look's like the Trib's made a boo-boo. I'm sure they'll correct it soon.

CHUCK MCCULLOUGH ARRESTED

From the P-G:

Allegheny County Councilman Charles McCullough was arrested and arraigned today on nearly two dozen counts following an investigation last year of his handling of an elderly widow's trust funds.

A county grand jury today handed up a 52-page presentment that alleges Mr. McCullough, an attorney, and his sister, Kathleen A. McCullough, bilked money from the $14.5 million trust fund of an Upper St. Clair widow, Shirley H. Jordan, 90.

And PXI has the perp walk.

The P-G has the criminal complaint.

More from the P-G:

This afternoon, the attorney representing Mr. McCullough said that he was "surprised and very disappointed," by the criminal charges.

Following the publication of the Post-Gazette stories, said Attorney Clifford Levine, Allegheny County Orphan's Court required Mr. McCullough and Northwest Savings Bank, which oversaw Ms. Jordan's trust, to provide a thorough accounting of expenditures. That was done in May 2007, and in August 2008, the court signed off on it, Mr. Levine said.

"We thought that matter had been put to rest, and we could move past that."

Notice anything interesting? Republican McCullough's attorney is Clifford Levine. This Clifford Levine:

Pittsburgh attorney Clifford Levine, who was chairman of the fundraiser [of June, 2007], said 225 people participated in the event, which raised about $150,000 for Obama's campaign.

"The luncheon was extremely successful," Levine said.

The event helped expand the campaign's Western Pennsylvania steering committee, Levine said. The committee hopes to have Obama return to Pittsburgh in the fall for "a big community rally," he said.

THAT must've been an interesting first meeting!

It should be noted that I interviewed Attorney Levine a number of months ago when I sat in for Lynn Cullen.

UPDATE: Something interesting from page 8 of the Complaint:

18 4906A FALSE REPORTS TO LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTH M2 1 COUNT

The actor knowingly gave false testimony namely ON APRIL 18, 2007 DEFENDANT KNOWINGLY AND FALSELY REPORTED TO UPPER ST. CLAIR POLICE DEPARTMENT THAT DENNIS RODDY HARASSED SHIRLEY H. JORDAN WHEN NO SUCH INCIDENT OF HARASSMENT BY DENNIS RODDY HAD OCCURRED to a law enforcement officer with intent to implicate another in violation of 18 Pa. C. S. § 4906(a) [Caps in original]

So whether the handling of the Ms Jordan's funds is illegal (and let's remember McCullough is innocent until proven guilty) there's the side issue of the false reports to law enforcement.

That can't be good. For Chuck.