Former Allegheny County Councilman Chuck McCullough, who is already sentenced for up to five years in prison for improperly using the trust fund of an elderly woman suffering dementia, awaits other criminal trials.
According to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, District Judge Robert P. Ravenstahl Jr. ordered McCullough for a new set of court trials on seven more charges, including unsworn falsification, obstruction of justice, and swearing. He will also face two counts of perjuries, which are felonies and misdemeanors.
The accusations came from the waiver of a jury trial for McCullough April 13, which was supposed to be before Common Pleas Judge Lester G. Nauhaus. McCullough claimed that there were no promises or threats that were made for him to waive that right and went for a bench trial. He said that waiver was signed in his own free will.
Through that waiver, the new charges were spawned. The criminal complaint accuses McCullough of refusing Judge Nauhaus. This refuted the sworn statement he earlier sworn to.
Daily Journal reported that the former County Councilman was sentenced to prison from to two and half to five years in prison for taking advantage of an elderly woman by using her $50,000 that belonged to her trust fund. Meanwhile, defense attorney David Pollock said the ruling "seemed heavy-handed for an individual who's had 60 years of exemplary record and little indication that anything like this would ever happen again."
Trib Live, however, wrote that McCullough still has his law license, even after the sentencing. The Pennsylvania Disciplinary Board is still discussing how to punish the former councilman. The penalties he could get are anything from censure to disbarment. It would be very difficult for the councilman to return to his law practice after serving the jail time.
McCullough claimed that Judge Nauhaus relayed "to go non-jury" through former defense attorney Jon Pushinsky, who is a mutual friend of the councilman and the judge.
