Alleged hookers busted in the city

Two women face prostitution charges in connection with an undercover operation on New Castle’s South Side.

City police said they have received a high volume of complaints from neighborhood residents. And within 30 minutes Monday morning, two women had been arrested.

Stacy Kirkwood, 38, of 602 Gardner Center Road was charged with prostitution, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. She remains in Lawrence County jail on $1,000 bond. Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Brandy Lynn Bartley, 30, of 5393 Erie St., Edinburg, was charged with prostitution and released from custody. Bartley’s preliminary hearing is set for 9:30 a.m. Sept. 10.

Kirkwood reportedly approached an undercover officer stationed in the Lutton Street area at 2 a.m. Monday.

“Kirkwood asked (the officer) what he was looking for, and he stated he was looking to get some (oral sex),” a police report about the incident noted. “(The officer) asked how much for oral sex and (intercourse), and she stated ‘Both will cost you $30.’ ”

The officer agreed to the price and drove Kirkwood to the “designated take down point.”

When Kirkwood realized two police officers were following, the report said, she told the undercover agent to stop and jumped out of the vehicle. Kirkwood was arrested as she attempted to reach the Columbus Innerbelt.

Police said suspected crack cocaine was found in her purse.

The undercover officer then headed to the area of Home and Mill streets, where Bartley reportedly approached him.

Bartley allegedly told the officer that it would cost him $40 for the same services Kirkwood reportedly had offered for $30.

“(The officer) stated he only had $32 on him,” according to the report. “Bartley stated she would do it for that.”

Shortly afterward, she was taken into custody and charged.

http://www.ncnewsmedia.com/archive/2009/08August/Alleged_Hookers/story1.htm

Man allegedly assaults girl, 10

Man allegedly assaults girl, 10


New Castle News

An Aliquippa man faces an indecent assault charge involving a 10-year-old Ellwood City girl.

Joshua Freeman, 22, of 1404 Green St., Aliquippa, is scheduled a preliminary hearing on the charge at 9:30 a.m. Sept. 30 in Lawrence County Central Court.

According to the documents filed by Ellwood police with District Judge Jerry G. Cartwright, the alleged incident took place in July at a home in the 200 block of First Street, where the girl was watching movies with a group of people that included Freeman and his girlfriend.

Acccording to police, the girl went into the kitchen to get a snack, and Freeman followed her, eventually kissing her and trying to put his hand into her pants.

The girl rebuffed him and he left the room, police said, but at a later date, Freeman again made advances toward the girl.

She and her mother reported the alleged incidents to police Aug. 7.

When questioned by police, Freeman allegedly told investigators that the girl had propositioned him and asked if she could be his girlfiend.

http://www.ncnewsonline.com/local/local_story_240141527.html

Woman faces computer charges

New Castle News

A New Castle woman faces multiple computer crimes charges stemming from altered files at a Neshannock Township business.

The business, which Neshannock Township police did not name, reported July 30 that someone had gained unauthorized access to its computerized files and altered them.

After serving a search warrant, police said, investigators discovered that the computer that had been used to remotely access the files was located at the 224 E. Laurel Ave. home of Beth A. Edgerton. According to police, investigators subsequently determined that the 30-year-old woman had been involved in accessing the files.

Edgerton is charged with third-degree felony counts of unlawful use of a computer, computer theft and computer trespass.

The charges were filed Wednesday with District Judge Scott A. McGrath.

http://www.ncnewsonline.com/local/local_story_240141402.html

DeRosa arraignment moved again

New Castle News

Nicholas DeRosa’s arraignment in a mortgage fraud case has been moved a second time.

A federal grand jury indicted the retired New Castle school administrator on one count of bank fraud, two counts of mail fraud and one count of money laundering conspiracy. The charges, announced July 14, are the result of an investigation involving Affordable Housing of Lawrence County and First Commonwealth Bank.

DeRosa was scheduled to appear in court this morning in downtown Pittsburgh. His new arraignment is set for 9:30 a.m. Oct. 1 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert C. Mitchell.

A potential conflict of interest arose between DeRosa and his attorney, Efrem M. Grail of Reed Smith LLP in Pittsburgh. Grail is being considered for the appointment of U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

A replacement for current U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan has not been named.

In paperwork filed Aug. 27, Grail said DeRosa wishes to retain him as counsel.

Despite the government’s objection to Grail’s motion, U.S. Magistrate Amy Reynolds Hay approved the request.

http://www.ncnewsonline.com/local/local_story_243095825.html

Employee steals lottery tickets

Thursday, August 27, 2009

By Len Barcousky, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Cranberry convenience store owner Nasser Elyaderani said he had to get a home equity loan to stay in business following the theft of more than $70,000 in lottery tickets.

A former employee, David Gerbrosky, of Ellwood City, pleaded guilty to one count of theft and has been ordered to repay $69,472 to Mr. Elyaderani's business, Freedom Market, and $5,000 to the store's insurance carrier. The business is located at the intersection of Powell and Freedom roads in Cranberry.

Following his guilty plea in July, Mr. Gerbrosky was sentenced on Aug. 12 by Butler County Judge William Shaffer to 90 to 180 days in the county jail and ordered to perform 100 hours of community service.

As part of his plea agreement, however, he was granted parole. According to court records, he has made a $2,000 initial restitution payment.

Cranberry police brought charges in July 2008 after Mr. Elyaderani provided them with a security video showing Mr. Gerbrosky taking lottery tickets.

Mr. Elyaderani said he wanted to remind other convenience store operators and business owners about the importance of keeping personal control over inventory that can be converted easily into cash. "The loss pushed us to the brink of bankruptcy," he said.

An immigrant from Iran, Mr. Elyaderani has operated Freedom Market for about two years.

He also advised business owners to review their insurance policies. He had what he believed to be $65,000 worth of theft coverage, but he discovered after the incident that most of his loss -- resulting from theft by an employee -- was not covered.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09239/993393-54.stm#ixzz0Prt9jiHY

Twice-convicted killer fought death sentence, gets life without parole

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

By Moriah Balingit, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A New Castle man who has spent more than two decades battling a death sentence for robbing and killing a man on the South Side will now spend the rest of his life in prison after a judge resentenced him yesterday.

Salvador Carlos Santiago, 46, was initially sentenced to death for the January 1985 slaying of Patrick Huber, a 23-year-old printer at Minuteman Press on East Carson Street. In the brutal killing, police said Mr. Santiago stole $16 from the store's cash register then forced Mr. Huber to kneel in the store's back room before shooting him once in the back of the head.

Just two days before Mr. Huber's slaying, Mr. Santiago shot and killed 20-year-old Dean K. O'Hara, who had stopped to help Mr. Santiago when the car Mr. Santiago was driving broke down on a highway outside of New Castle. Mr. Santiago was sentenced to life in prison for the killing and did not appeal that case.

The Huber case has spent the last 23 years winding its way through state and federal courts as Mr. Santiago exhausted every avenue of appeal, including unsuccessfully petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court in October 1995. At one point, in 1991, he was successful in getting the state to grant him a new trial. He was again convicted and sentenced to death in 1993.

On Sept. 22, 2004, Gov. Ed Rendell signed a death warrant for Mr. Santiago and his execution by lethal injection was scheduled for that November. But before he could be executed, Mr. Santiago filed a petition in federal court challenging both his conviction and sentencing on numerous grounds, including that his appointed attorneys were ineffective.

After spending the last five years of wrangling in federal court, Allegheny County Assistant District Attorney Ronald Wabby and Mr. Santiago's public defender, Billy Nolas of the Federal Community Defender Office, signed an order that allowed for the death sentence to be vacated in exchange for Mr. Santiago agreeing not to pursue any more appeals.

The order, signed by both attorneys and issued by U.S. District Judge Joy Flowers Conti in June, conceded Mr. Santiago's claim that he received ineffective counsel during the death penalty phase of his second trial and ordered that he be resentenced to life imprisonment. Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey A. Manning's resentencing yesterday came as a result of the order.

Mr. Wabby said he was not conceding that Mr. Santiago received ineffective counsel and called signing the agreement a means to an end.

"Looking at the background of the case, the interest of the victim, the interest of the commonwealth ... the resolution of these issues was the best for all the parties involved in this way," he said. "In order to get [Mr. Santiago] that type of relief, that's what we had to agree to."

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09238/993251-54.stm

Brown's Lawyers Ask Judge To Throw Out Evidence

At a hearing Wednesday afternoon in Lawrence County, lawyers for an 11-year-old boy charged with killing his father's pregnant fiancée asked a judge to throw out much of the evidence against him.

"They don't have any evidence that actually puts Jordan Brown in the house at the time of the deaths," said Dennis Elisco, the defense attorney.

Brown is charged in the fatal shooting of his father's pregnant girlfriend, Kenzie Houk.

Police say the boy killed the 26-year-old inside the home that the family shared in Wampum, and then went to school.

"There's no evidence that his gun was discharged or it was the weapon. We've gotten nothing back that; there's no blood. The most recent discovery, there's no blood on the gun; there's no fingerprints detectable on his gun, the shotgun," said Elisco. "And we're still waiting, how many months later… we're waiting on ballistics."

The defense alleges a search warrant that state police used to gather evidence inside the family home was missing a signature. Therefore, it should be thrown out along with the statement that Brown made while at school to a trooper.

"My argument is two-fold," said Elisco. "One, that he was clearly in custody because he reasonable believed that he couldn't leave, as any fifth grader would have reasonably believed. And secondly, that the Commonwealth… intentionally prevented Chris Brown from being present during the interview."

As for the prosecution, they say they are legally sound on all of their grounds.

Meanwhile, the judge says he will rule on these matters within the next 30 days.

http://kdka.com/local/Jordan.Brown.hearing.2.1145991.html