A September of Consequences

As is typical when summer begins to wind down and school begins to wind up, so do all manner of other processes related to community activities, politics, and the business of government.

Here’s some things that have happened or are happening this month that may have significant impact on individuals, groups, communities, or the region at large.

High School Project – Serve and Volley

It appears as if the Quaker Valley School District is preparing to begin an effort to more effectively communicate information about the proposed new high school, and to make their case for the continued development of the project as it is currently designed.

I believe this is partially in response to the volumes of information that District 1 school board candidate Bill Jasper has been posting online and in other forms of communication since the May primary election.

According an August 23 Sewickley Herald report, the QVSD board reviewed some revised drawings and an updated timeline – this includes a planned “vote on the maximum project budget” at a legislative meeting this evening.

This past week the district also finalized a “Community Panel Discussion” on Wednesday evening Sept. 20th. The event promises the following –

• A brief history of the project and overview of the
current design
• A timeline of upcoming events and milestones as we
prepare to break ground
• Expert insight from professionals, administrators, and
board members who are working on this project
• Interactive dialogue and an open Q&A session

Reporting about the event in last Thursday’s online Herald also included commentary from at least one board member encouraging attendance –

“It’s important to attend this if you want to get the information directly from the source,” said Gianni Floro, school board member and chairman of the facilities and operations committee.

“If you want to hear what our years of due diligence has produced. … I would hope that every seat in the auditorium is full. I would hope that everyone we can cram in there, responsibly, could check it out.”

The district is also planning to live stream the event, and is soliciting community input in advance.

An interesting website graphic and yard sign design. Click to enlarge.

Mr. Jasper appears to be unimpressed by the gathering, stating on his website –

The meeting on September 20th is solely a PR event. Expect the CHEERLEADERS to be out in full force.

This did not stop Citizens For a Great School from encouraging attendance at this event in a September 13 e-mail blast.

Leslie and I toured the site last week at one of the tours offered to the public. It was our first time up there since just after Muottas was sold – before anything had been done to the historic house, its outbuildings, and surrounding grounds.

I’ll have more to say later on.

Gaydos Town Hall Highlights Possibly Related Legislation

While it’s unknown who scheduled what when, a letter from Rep. Valerie Gaydos and Democratic Rep. Emily Kinkead, dated August 31, announced a town hall meeting to discuss issues regarding the propensity of landslides in our region, and proposed legislation designed to address issues surrounding property owners who may experience problems due to the threat of landslides or actual earth movement.

According to an e-mail blast from Rep. Gaydos on August 18 –

Damage from landslides is not covered under normal homeowner’s insurance, so this is an area where the average homeowner is often “on his or her own.” The expense can be overwhelming.

House Bill 589 would add coverage of landslides, slope movement and sinkholes to an existing program in the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection that currently only covers mine subsidence assistance and insurance.

It’s unfortunate that this town hall, to be held at the Sewickley YMCA, is scheduled at the same date and time as the school district’s community meeting at QVHS.

This new legislation raised some additional questions regarding the types of landslides involved, and whether this could also be a potential funding source for mitigation of other slide situations –

• The inability of homeowners to purchase insurance for storm water or landslide damage in areas where such a risk has been identified, and could be exacerbated by human as well as natural activity. An example is those homes downhill from the proposed site of the new high school. Mr. Jasper is one of those homeowners, and has made reference to this issue in previous versions of his expansive campaign website.
• Rural roadways in our area with known slide areas that are currently marked with cones or other warning devices, or completely closed to traffic.
  

  Way Hollow Road in Sewickley Heights, closed since January 2020 due to multiple slides. This is a state-maintained roadway – Google Maps

  Local examples include Way Hollow Road, Little Sewickley Creek Road, and Big Sewickley Creek Road. These roads are often critical access pathways for residents, responders, and commuters.

I expressed these concerns in an e-mail to Rep. Gaydos earlier this month, and am awaiting a reply.

Citizen Nocito Faces the Music, and the Media Responds

When I first moved back to the area, one of the many curiosities I encountered that had sprung up in my absence was the enormous house on Beech Ridge Drive in Bell Acres.

Over the years my interest in the house and its owner, Joseph Nocito Sr., has waxed and waned with associated media coverage of Mr. Nocito’s ongoing legal difficulties regarding the manner in which he funded the construction of both the house and the miscellaneous trappings of a lifestyle to fit and support such a residence, along with its occupants and family members.

“Villa Noci”, Bell Acres Borough. Click to enlarge – Google Earth

Both the largesse and the legal challenges of both Mr. Nocito and his son, Joseph Jr., have been well-covered by the local media, most notably by Torsten Ove of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Mr. Ove has continued his excellent work while on strike against the P-G, most recently in the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh’s strike publication, the Pittsburgh Union Progress. On the broadcast side, KDKA-TV has aired several segments focusing on the house, its assessed value, and Mr. Nocito Sr.’s lengthy federal court battle.

The financial and other exploits of the younger Mr. Nocito have also been well-documented by both online and mainstream media. This goes back as far as the failure of a mortgage company amidst the 2008 financial crisis, the purchase of a popular public golf club in 2012, and the use of that facility to host his lavish 2014 wedding.

This was followed in 2015 by his indictment for conspiracy to commit fraud and subsequent guilty plea and 2016 sentencing.

Villa Noci interior – U.S. Attorney’s Office / PACER

According to media reports and court documents, the financial chicanery of the son paled in comparison to that of the father.

Following his 2018 indictment after an investigation that dated back to the early 2010s, Mr. Nocito Sr. agreed to plead guilty last November.

Much of the meatier recent reporting on this has been provided by Mr. Ove at the Union Progress, as well as the staff of the Trib / Sewickley Herald. Paula Reed Ward of the Trib very nicely summarized the offenses committed in her September 14 story –

The CEO and president of Automated Health Systems, a company that serves as a Medicaid enrollment brokering firm, Nocito pleaded guilty last November to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States.

He has already paid $15 million in restitution.

He admitted to writing off millions of dollars in home construction costs and personal expenses without paying taxes.

The government has said that Nocito’s house is the largest in Pennsylvania.

It was built through a sophisticated scheme, the government said.

Between 2006 and 2012, Nocito concealed more than $66 million in AHS income by funneling it through other companies he controlled.

He then used that income not only in the construction of what the government on Thursday called a palace, but also for a butler, a chef, luxury vehicles, tuition for his grandchildren, and other personal expenses.

It is, Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Melucci said, the largest individual tax fraud in the history of the Western District of Pennsylvania.

Villa Noci at ground level. Click to enlarge – Keith Strakocic / AP

The most recent flurry of media attention focused on the sentencing phase, which was completed yesterday. The Trib/Herald’s coverage stood out for me because their reporting was featured in their hyperlocal paper, both electronically and in print. Their editorial board also elected to publish an opinion concerning the affair.

Mr. Nocito’s attorney requested he serve his sentence under house arrest in one of his properties in the Mount Washington neighborhood of Pittsburgh – he stressed he would not be at Villa Noci. Quoting a Trib/Herald story from late August –

Nocito is asking the court to spare him any time in prison.

Reasons cited in court filings included Nocito’s age, need for two knee replacements, obesity, problems using stairs and poor health.

“Simply put, Mr. Nocito is not a person who can acclimate to prison,” the filing said.

In addition, the defense said, nine of Nocito’s children and grandchildren rely heavily on his financial support, including education expenses.

Nocito also cited his charitable work, including serving on the boards of Homewood-Brushton Health Center, Ohio Valley Hospital, Brentwood Community Bank and Robert Morris University.

The filing said that Nocito has donated millions of dollars to charity, including money to help save the Pittsburgh Creche at Downtown’s Steel Plaza.

“If Mr. Nocito is not placed on probation or a term of electronic monitoring permitting him to continue to work and generate income…it will be challenging for him to provide for the financial support of his family, which will indeed result in a substantial degree of financial hardship to Mr. Nocito’s children and grandchildren,” the defense wrote.

Villa Noci interior – Mansions and More

The prosecution reacted incredulously to this request, and made their sentiments well known in court records. Their sentencing memorandum, dated September 8, broke down and attempted to debunk each of Mr. Nocito’s reasons for his request, and stood its ground for 37 to 46 months in prison.

The memorandum is a pretty good read – more of a white-collar-true-crime potboiler than dry legalese.

For those interested in digging deeper, the court record of a lengthy (217-page) PowerPoint presentation is available to review here.

Federal Judge Joy Flowers Conti, in a tentative ruling prior to the sentencing hearing, tended to side with the prosecution, but kept her options open –

In sum, the court recognizes its discretion to grant a downward departure on the basis of his charitable works, but on the present record, the court’s preliminary assessment is that the
departure is not warranted.

To the extent there is other evidence to the support Nocito’s request, it may be presented at the sentencing hearing.

That hearing commenced last Thursday, but was continued until yesterday due to the sheer volume of character witnesses and letters received by the Judge. According to Mr. Ove’s account in the Union Progress, this was not without a little “minor drama” –

Nocito’s lawyer, Phil DiLucente, didn’t dispute Nocito’s crimes… He described his client as a generous business owner and loving father and family man who gave freely to any person or institution that needed help, from the Catholic Diocese to poor children through the Pittsburgh Promise.

He presented nine character witnesses, including two priests, several relatives and Nocito’s wife, who all praised his good deeds. Many more friends and family wrote letters; Judge Conti said she’s never received more character letters for a defendant.

One Nocito friend, James Smerdell…described Nocito’s fraud as a “lapse in judgment.”

That caught the attention of (Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg) Melucci, who confronted Smerdell in front of the packed courtroom. A tax fraud scheme that cost Americans millions, he asked, is a “lapse in judgment”?

“I don’t know what else you would call it,” Smerdell said.

“A crime,” Melucci responded.

Mr. Nocito was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, the first six months on house arrest.

Per the Trib / Herald report, Mr. Nocito’s house arrest will be at a location other than his version of Xanadu.

Enjoy the approaching Autumn.