The Pittsburgh Press from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 13

The Pittsburgh Press Section Thursday, January 14, 1988 enedict plea due in corruption investigation up. Goldberg said, "I can't confirm anything until we get up there tomorrow and see what happens." Later last night, a reporter for The Pittsburgh Press rang Benedict's doorbell. Lights were on in the home, but no one answered the door. U.S Attorney James West, who declined to comment on the case, and state Attorney General LeRoy Zimmerman were expected to hold a news conference after the hearing today. Robert Gentzel, Zimmerman's spokesman, would not comment on the nature of the news conference.

Bob Grotevant, spokesman for Gov. Robert P. Casey, said last night that the administration had not been notified by "any law enforcement In August, the Associated Press reported, two sources close to the case said Kerr agreed to secretly record conversations with Benedict and others. At the time, Kerr had been sentenced to 2 to 5 years in jail in the job-selling case and was awaiting an order to report to prison. Benedict said in August that he was also cooperating with prosecutors.

He agreed to provide information about others involved in wrongdoing after he learned Kerr had implicated him, the sources said. Fetterhoff said his client's discussions with federal officials about Benedict "focused on the job-selling scandal and related fund-raising improprieties." Fetterhoff said he was not present at the sessions and did not know The Pittsburgh Press and wire reports Former state Auditor General Al Benedict was expected to enter a plea today in U.S. District Court in Williamsport to corruption-related charges connected to what some government sources said may become the biggest public-corruption case in Pennsylvania history. The Associated Press quoted sources who said the federal and state investigation goes beyond a job-selling scheme in Benedict's office during his eight-year tenure that ended in January 1985. In the scheme, 53 jobs in the auditor general's office in Pittsburgh and Harrisburg were sold for $1,000 to $10,000.

Benedict, 58, of suburban Harrisburg, was scheduled to enter his plea before U.S. District Senior Judge Malcolm Muir, sources told United Press International. Although his top aide, John M. Kerr, was convicted of 139 counts related to the job-selling in 1984, Benedict had not been charged. In the past, Benedict repeatedly denied participation in the job-selling scheme and testified in defense of Kerr at his former aide's trial The charges against Benedict are expected to be based in part on Kerr's grand jury testimony.

The case against Benedict was sealed by the court pending today's hearing. Since May 1986, Kerr, a Butler native, has been cooperating with federal authorities and has testified before a federal grand jury against Benedict, said William Fetterhoff, Kerr's attorney. details of Kerr's revelations. He said he intends in several weeks to ask Dauphin County Common Pleas Court to vacate Kerr's sentence on technical grounds. If the court agrees, Fetterhoff said he will ask that Kerr's cooperation with authorities be considered in re-sentencing.

The job sales raised more than $200,000, which participants said was to be used for Benedict's future run for governor. But investigators have been unable to determine what happened to the bulk of the money. Contacted by telephone by United Press International at his home yesterday and asked about a report that he would plead guilty, Benedict said, "I don't know about that." He then referred the caller to his attorney, Arthur Goldberg, and hung If ilkinsburg detective wounded Mil t-lw till lip 1 111 AHlfli IW I lift1 I 'f 7 "I MhI w4v4Vi fill Suspect remains at large By Cindi Lash and Dennis B. Roddy The Pittsburgh Press A Wilkinsburg detective was to undergo minor cosmetic surgery today for a facial wound sustained when his partner's revolver discharged as the officers working without pay and due to be laid off tomorrow struggled with a burglary suspect. The suspect escaped on foot after the incident yesterday on the North Side.

Detective Channing Jackson, 52, was in fair condition at Allegheny General Hospital with the flesh wound caused by the 9mm bullet fired from the revolver of Detective Hank Riebold. Riebold was treated at AGH for bruises received when he tumbled down a flight stairs during the struggle at 1305 Allegheny Ave. The suspect, James Robinson, 26, implicated in a Tuesday burglary at a Wilkinsburg home, was still being sought today on charges of burglary, criminal conspiracy, aggravated assault and resisting arrest. Robinson, a native of Prattville, has numerous addresses, including 7037 Fielding Way, North Braddock; Midland Street, Wilkinsburg; and the house on Allegheny Street, North Side. Robinson, arrested once before by Jackson, was on parole from that 1986 burglary conviction.

He had been released Nov. 4 from prison. "What a way to end it," muttered Wilkinsburg Detective Michael Hudek as Jackson and Riebold's colleagues gathered at the emergency room at Allegheny General. Wilkinsburg, because of financial problems, will lay off its police force at 4 p.m. tomorrow.

Jackson and Riebold were working without pay because the borough, since early December, has been without the funds to keep them. "Seems like we're the only reason there's news anymore," said Hudek. The latest reported sighting of types" of new developments regard- Please see Benedict, BIO Susie PostThe Pittsburgh Press shot yesterday James Robinson Fled from police normal. Ms. DeCourcy said PAT police told traffic dispatchers that their public address announcements about the delays were hard to understand.

"Our radio repair people are going to look at that problem," she said. Yesterday, subway service was disrupted for 2V4 hours, starting at 11:20 a.m., when an insulator on an overhead power line broke, near Pv 1 fw III XI lilt li Carlson at scene where detective was Al Benedict Faces charges Irvis seat wide open, blacks predict By Sherley Uhl The Pittsburgh Press Most Democratic black leaders, asked for the reaction to Cathy Irvis apparent decision to run for her husband's legislative seat, are predicting a wide open race in the 19th District. Some are conceding Mrs. Irvis may get the Democratic endorsement, but not the nomination. Minutes before the deadline on Tuesday, Mrs.

Irvis, 53, filed a letter of intent to seek the Democratic County Committee's endorsement for the post held for 29 years by House Speaker K. Leroy Irvis. Only one other candidate James Williams, who directs a drug rehabilitation center in Oakland filed a similar petition. But the scenario remains confused because Irvis has yet to state his own intentions, and Mrs. Irvis has refused to confirm his decision to retire.

So, some party strategists believe other Democrats will enter the contest as unendorsed candidates in the April 26 primary. Two already have indicated they may do so: former city Councilman Bill Robinson of Schenley Heights, and urban renewal specialist Stanley Lowe of the North Side. Robinson said he didn't request endorsement because he was unaware of the deadline. Lowe said he had recently returned from a trip to Tokyo and the Philippines and, likewise, had overlooked the filing date. "That was unfortunate because I have the highest respect for the Democratic Party," he said.

"But I have not closed the door. "As a matter of fact, I've had discussions with several people and am actively considering it. I would assume it would be a wide open Democratic race." Lowe said he was puzzled by Irvis' failure to disclose in advance his plans and to state openly that he did not intend to run for re-election. "If he does take himself out, it behooves all who are qualified to seriously consider the possibility of running. It (the 19th District campaign) boils down to two things: prior demonstrated leadership, and the public's right to choose its elected representative." Please see lrvts, BIO Gateway Center Station.

Until electrical crews made repairs, the old-style trolleys were turned back at South Hills Junction where riders were transferred to and from light rail vehicles. PAT was able to run the light rail vehicles in limited service, using only the inbound track in the subway, since the LRVs have controls at both ends, and can be reversed. Among the bank's requirements is that the borough make the final 1185,000 payment on last year's (1.7 million tax-anticipation loan from Mellon Bank. Ist night, Mayor Richard Dep-pcrman, council President Peggy Galley and Councilman William Chessman each contributed $1,000 to a fund established to pay off last year's tax-anticipation loan. They asked other officials and residents to Please see Aid, BIO Uneasy riders delayed by rush-hour trolley breakdowns City policeman Richard Robinson was early last night on Midland Street, where he had lived for several days before the shooting.

Police records show Robinson was arrested Jan. 23, 1986, for stealing money and assaulting a clerk at Waldman's Meats, 220 N. Highland East Liberty. The following day, Wilkinsburg police arrested him for burglaries there. He escaped by climbing out a restroom window during his preliminary hearing Feb.

20, 1986, but was recaptured in September 1986 in Illinois and went to jail in Pennsylvania. In 1985, Robinson jumped a fence to elude city police who attempted to arrest him in connection with a burglary in December But regular announcements about delays may not have been heard because the sound from the public address system was muffled. The latest disruptions in the new 542 million transit system began shortly before 8 a.m. after an old-style trolley an inbound 47D Drake became disabled at Station Square. PAT tried unsuccessfully to hook it up with another old trolley to push five-member panel last night that mismanagement was the primary cause of Wilkinsburg's problems.

Miller, who has been providing financial guidance to the borough since December, was one of about 15 people who addressed the panel of state officials. Others included borough Auditor Robert J. Tomasic, borough council members, other municipal officials and residents. Most of those who testified em said, were a telephone, cash and jewelry. Hudek said the burglary matched four or five others in Wilkinsburg during the past two weeks in which burglars taped the glass of a window to reduce noise and flying glass before they broke it open.

Hudek and Rearick said another suspect, George Meadows, 20, 1305 Allegheny Avenue, had been arrested at the house before the encounter there with Robinson. Pittsburgh Police Chief Ralph Pampena said Meadows implicated Robinson in the burglary, causing Jackson and Riebold to go to the Allegheny Avenue house. Pampena said outside police forces are permitted to operate inside the city, but that "as a Please see Shot, B9 which prevented any other trolleys from leaving the South Hills Rail Center for their runs. PAT took about 45 minutes to get that disabled vehicle out of the way. "Everything was affected up and down the line," from the South Hills through the Downtown subway," PAT spokeswoman Debbie De-Courcy said.

It was several hours before operations returned to George H. Klaus, director of local government services for the state Department of Community Affairs, presided over last night's hearing. He must recommend within 30 days whether to accept Wilkinsburg's plea for help. If Wilkinsburg is designated a distressed community, it probably couldn't receive a nine-month, no-interest emergency loan before March 1, Klaus said. The designation could serve as a 1984.

The house at 1305 Allegheny Avenue, scene of yesterday's shooting, provides temporary homes for persons evicted from their residences. About a dozen rooms house several families, and tenants share common baths and kitchens. Two women residents yesterday said they had seen Robinson there several times in recent weeks at the apartment of a young woman. The Wilkinsburg detectives went to the North Side house to look for Robinson in connection with a burglary shortly after noon Tuesday at a house on Midland Street. Taken in the burglary, Hudek it out of the way.

Then supervisors brought in one of the new light rail vehicles to push both 1940s-vintage trolleys about a half-mile, to Steel Plaza Station, where all riders got off and both crippled cars were moved onto a side track. Meanwhile, at the other end of the line, a two-car train of new light rail vehicles broke down on the inbound tracks at South Hills Village Station, phasized that the borough's principal need is for financial assistance but said it also would benefit from expert financial advice available under the Distressed Municipalities Act. Under the act, financially strapped municipalities must adopt a multi-year recovery plan and follow the guidance of a state-selected financial coordinator. No-interest loans and grants from the state also are available. By Joe Grata The Pittsburgh Press Thousands of riders were delayed for as long as one hour when old and new Port Authority Transit trolleys broke down during the morning rush hours.

The problems also affected people who use the Downtown subway system as a free shuttle between points in the Golden Triangle. Wilkinsburg seeking distressed community status to get state aid bargaining chip in Wilkinsburg's attempts to obtain additional loans from area banks. "It is literally taken for granted" that the act is a key ingredient in trying to persuade banks to lend the borough money to pay old debts and new bills, Miller said. Wilkinsburg, which has a deficit estimated at $500,000 to $1 million, is trying to meet conditions set by Equibank to obtain a $2 million tax-anticipation loan for 1988. By Dana Scarton and Roger Stuart The Pittsburgh Press financial health be restored within two years if the sute declares the borough a distressed community and issues it a no-interest loan or grant, according to a municipal consultant.

David Miller of the Pennsylvania Economy League testified before a.