From today's Courier 😂
The DuBois City Building on West Scribner Avenue.
Ben Destefan
DuBOIS — City of DuBois Solicitor Toni Cherry is voicing her frustration with the investigation conducted by the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office involving DuBois City Manager John “Herm” Suplizio.
On March 20, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office charged Suplizio with five third-degree felony counts of theft by unlawful taking, a felony count of restricted activities, eight misdemeanor charges of fraudulent returns and a second-degree misdemeanor of misapplication of entrusted property, according to court documents. He is accused of committing more than $620,000 in fraudulent transactions from public accounts associated with the city, DuBois Area United Way and DuBois Volunteer Fire Department
According to the affidavit of probable cause, those accusations include theft totaling $264,645.24 from five public accounts, including $3,000 from the City of DuBois General Fund and tax fraud totaling $356,170.56, including $26,077.56 associated with the City of DuBois General Fund. The remaining fraudulent transactions were allegedly associated with one United Way checking account and three accounts linked to the fire department.
Suplizio, 62, has been placed on paid administrative leave from his role as city manager.
In an interview with the Tri-County Weekend, Cherry said a “reason that we were surprised at what we saw was because we all expected to be called before the grand jury. We were not,” said Cherry. “We had provided them repeatedly with information that would directly contradict these charges. And they called only two individuals, and that would’ve been the treasurer (Lisa LaBrasca Becker) and (finance officer) DeLean Shepherd. And when they got those statements, then they never called anybody else.”
“There’s a statement, I’m sure you’ve heard it many times, a judge in New York said, ‘you can indict a ham sandwich and if you deliberately exclude exculpatory evidence, you can get your indictment.’ That’s really what happened here,” said Cherry. “They’re (Attorney General office) not interested in the truth. They’re not interested in common sense. They’re interested in grandstanding.”
Cherry maintains that the city has “had audits every year, and there’s no money missing.”
“Show me what has happened that implicates (DuBois city) council in any wrongdoing,” said Cherry. “Council was surprised because they know there’s no money missing because we are audited every single year. We have the right to rely on those audits. This whole forensic audit –we have done that, (but) not because we expect to find anything. We will be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that there isn’t any money missing. We are doing that to prove our innocence. And that to me is what’s appalling –that we are now in a situation where we have turned the Constitution and the rights we have on its ear because of these accusations.”
“I think that you need only look to the fact that there has been no tax increase in the City of DuBois for over 15 years,” said Cherry. “During that 15-year period, there’s actually been two reductions. We eliminated the per capita and we eliminated the occupational tax. So how can you have an accusation of mismanagement when you have had absolutely no tax increase and you have balanced your budget every year and you provide all of these services for the community.”
“It really is unbelievable to think that the City of DuBois could have received in the last 15 years, over $10 million in grants, that we now have an $83 million loan from PennVEST, approved by Department of Community and Economic Development,” said Cherry. “We secured independent bond counsel for the gathering of that information, and so all of the city’s finances are reviewed with a fine tooth comb. If there had been any money missing, we would not have received that kind of money.”
“It’s just that simple. And I keep telling people the truth, and I provided this information to the investigators and they ignore it,” said Cherry.
“The clearest proof that in fact we (city) have been completely forthright and transparent is what happened with the subpoena for the grand jury that was served upon (councilwoman) Shannon Gabriel,” said Cherry.
Gabriel told the Tri-County Weekend an investigator in the case called her in the spring of 2021 and said he wanted to meet with her to provide updates since she was a council member and if she would be willing to meet with him outside her place of employment. According to Gabriel, she agreed and said there were actually two investigators who met with her outside and one of them opened a folder and laid it out on top of his car. She said she could see that it was a subpoena for the grand jury. When she saw the date, Gabriel told him that she could not accept that because she had very important family events on that same date. The investigator called somebody and then came back and told her they can work with her on another date and he’d get back to her, according to Gabriel.
“While I was sitting there, I’m like, ‘this is ridiculous.’ And he’s like, ‘what’s ridiculous?’ And I said, ‘all of this,’” said Gabriel, who served as city controller from March 2020 until she was appointed to city council in August 2020. “I said, ‘this is just ridiculous, and I’m not missing out on my family’s events for this.’” Gabriel said, the investigator then said to her, “’This was already investigated once. We didn’t find anything.’ And then he said, ‘they just keep calling and calling and writing and writing, and they told us to find something.’”
When contacted via email, Senior Deputy Attorney General Summer F. Carroll, who is prosecuting Suplizio’s case, said, “This is false. A grand jury made a finding recommending the charges outlined in the criminal complaint. Beyond that, we have no comment to this unfounded accusation.”
Additionally, Carroll stated that “all information that is publicly available at this time is contained in the criminal complaint. All grand jury documents remain under seal unless and until they are unsealed by the grand jury judge for procedural reasons.”
Shortly after on another day, Gabriel told the Tri-County Weekend the investigator called and said she doesn’t need to be called to the grand jury, but asked her if she could meet with them to talk. Gabriel agreed but when she insisted that she would not be meeting with him without her attorney he allegedly never called her back.
Cherry stated that no one else from the city was ever called to testify on the grand jury — neither city employees or the council.
Councilwoman Diane Bernardo, who served as controller for the city starting in 2000 until she took office on the city council in 2008, said she was surprised that she was never approached to give her testimony to the grand jury.
“I think they’re afraid of the truth. They don’t want to know the truth because it destroys the narrative,” said Bernardo.
“We are statutorily precluded from commenting on the content of any grand jury investigation, including this one,” said Carroll.
Response to public comments
Cherry also addressed comments made by Linda London at the council meeting on March 27, regarding the solicitor’s public statement following the announcement of charges against Suplizio.
In her March 21 statement, Cherry said:
”On behalf of all of city council, I share our disappointment upon learning about the allegations against our long-time city Manager, Herm Suplizio. For over two decades, Herm has served DuBois with a passion and determination that has grown its reputation and profile well beyond that of similar cities. Out of respect for Herm, as well as the judicial process, we will reserve comment on these allegations until a more appropriate time.
“However, council will remain vigilant in our oversight of city funds and its employees,” continued Cherry. “We will continue to monitor the matter and further our own review of the facts moving forward. We are committed to ensuring integrity is maintained within DuBois City government, which, we believe epitomizes Herm’s tenure as city manager. We appreciate all the kind words in support of Herm and the city that we have received from members of the community, and we thank you all for your patience with this deliberative process.”
London’s response to the statement was that public statements from the council, the solicitor, or others in city positions should not be made to support or oppose Suplizio and such allegations.
To explain her March 21 statement, Cherry referenced when one of the investigators in Suplizio’s case first approached the city and representatives of the DuBois Area United Way, with the original allegation that money had been taken from the nonprofit organization and used for the construction of fields and other amenities in the City of DuBois.
Cherry said they provided the investigator with the audit and copies of the donations that had been made to the United Way and earmarked for the use of the ball fields. Individuals did that so that they could get the deductions for a charitable donation, she said.
“At that point, and the investigator asked me, ‘do you have any idea who was behind all of this because we’re getting phone calls, we’re getting these accusations,’” said Cherry. “I said, yes, the ‘Concerned Citizens,’ they reference that in the affidavit of probable cause, these ‘Concerned Citizens.’ I said, of course, I know who they are.”
Then, Cherry said, there was a second investigation that focused on similar accusations.
“So we (city) were surprised to see that same accusation when it had been repeatedly explained to the investigator,” said Cherry. “We had also explained it — to really all the people who wanted to listen.”
Cherry also addressed resident Elliott Gelfand’s comments at the March 27th meeting about the handling of the city’s water system. “The City of DuBois, through its council, has been vociferous in stating its position that the water, the reservoir, the wells, is our greatest resource,” Cherry said. “It was paid for by the taxpayers of the City of DuBois. City council considers itself a steward of that. They are never going to sell that system. That is not going to happen. What the city did do as testament to Mr. Suplizio’s sound management and the council’s oversight is that the city sold and received about $4-$5 million by selling water to oil and gas companies back in 2008. When the investigators came in and they confiscated all of that information, they were somehow provided information by these ‘concerned citizens’ that the city was selling off water to these gas and oil companies. They sold water and the money received from that went into the conduct of the water system and the water bureau.”
Next steps
Suplizio was released on $100,000 unsecured bail following his preliminary hearing and formal arraignment on March 20. Suplizio is being represented by private counsel, Michael Anthony Comber, Esq., from Pittsburgh, and William A. Shaw Jr., Esq., from Clearfield, who have made no comment about the case.
Carroll said no other proceedings have been scheduled yet.
“Both judges in Clearfield County recused themselves so we are awaiting judicial reassignment from the AOPC (Administrative Office of PA Courts),” said Carroll. “When the new judge is assigned, the next court date will be set. I don’t know what the time frame will be
I thought about his son that's sad.
