4/9/2014
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Citizen activist Gene Stilp on Tuesday, April 8, 2014, filed private criminal complaints against three legislators who took cash from an undercover informant for the Attorney General’s Office.
HARRISBURG — Citizen activist Gene Stilp on Tuesday filed private criminal complaints against three legislators who took cash from an undercover informant for the Attorney General's Office.
Stilp said he did so because Attorney General Kathleen Kane, Dauphin County District Attorney Ed Marsico and the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania declined to charge lawmakers who were recorded receiving money from former informant Tyron B. Ali, who posed as a lobbyist.
“We don't have any comment,” said J.J. Abbott, a Kane spokesman.
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Philadelphia declined comment. Marsico could not be reached.
Under rules of criminal procedure, Stilp said, if state law enforcement authorities take no action in 30 days the case goes to Dauphin County Common Pleas Court for review.
“It's time for this case to get moving,” said Stilp, who has a law degree but does not practice law. “It seems the D.A., U.S. attorney and attorney general are dancing around the edges. This will at least get the case before a judge.”
William C. Costopoulos, a Lemoyne criminal defense attorney, said it is a rare but valid avenue for citizens to file criminal complaints.
“I've seen it done in the past, but not in anything with a profile like this,” he said.
The prosecutors, Kane or Marsico, would have to approve the charges for them to move forward. If they decline to prosecute, Stilp must convince a judge that the prosecutor abused his or her discretion, Cosopoulos said.
But Stilp must have evidence, Costopoulos said, noting that he cannot simply present newspaper articles about the failed sting operation; he would need evidence such as recordings made by the informant.
Stilp of Dauphin in Dauphin County filed conflict of interest charges against Reps. Ron Waters, Vanesssa Brown and Michelle Brownlee, all Philadelphia Democrats. He stated in his complaint that they failed to report cash on their financial disclosure statements.
Stilp said he declined to file charges against a fourth legislator, Rep. Louise Bishop, D-Philadelphia, because she is 80 years old.
“I don't file cases against elderly women,” he said. Stilp said Kane and Marsico could decide whether to charge Bishop.
Bishop could not be reached. Staffers in the other lawmakers' offices on Tuesday said they had no comment.
The Phildelphia Inquirer reported the sting implicating the four lawmakers last month. The case is sealed, and the Tribune-Review has asked a Dauphin County judge to open the files for public inspection.
Kane, a Democrat, has said she could not charge the legislators because the case investigated under her predecessors was legally flawed.
Marsico, a Republican, has said he agrees with that, based on a summary from Kane's office that he reviewed.
Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams last month criticized Kane for not trying to prosecute the case and dismissed the notion that a major flaw was Ali's credibility.
Ali, a former day care president, had faced more than 2,000 charges for defrauding the state Department of Education, which prosecutors used to gain his cooperation. Former Chief Deputy Frank Fina signed an agreement with Ali that stipulated the charges would be dismissed if he completed his work for the state. Ali never testified because the legislators weren't charged.
Kane approved dismissing the charges against Ali. She contended he lacked supervision and may have targeted black lawmakers.
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