Mar 23, 2016 2 min read

PITTSBURGH – A state trooper has been indicted by a federal grand jury for creating and mailing false court documents.

Steven P. Grados, 51, of Monongahela, has been charged with mail fraud and forging and counterfeiting a seal of a U.S. court, U.S. Attorney David J. Hickton announced Wednesday.

The three-count indictment returned Tuesday accused Grados of creating a memorandum opinion and court order and mailing them to the Pennsylvania State Employees Retirement System offices in Harrisburg to deceive that office into discontinuing paying a portion of his state police pension to his former spouse.

The law provides for a maximum total sentence of up to 20 years on each count of mail fraud and five years on the single count for forging the signature of a federal judge, a fine of up to $250,000 on each of the three counts, or both. The FBI investigated the events leading to the indictment.

In January, Grados, acting as his own attorney, filed suit against Washington County and its Children and Youth Services and Domestic Relations agencies, Southwestern Pennsylvania Domestic Violence Services of Washington County, Carroll Township and the district attorney’s office.

Grados claimed his wife, Carlese, in July 2014, filed a false application for a protection-from-abuse order in Washington County Court over an incident of alleged reckless driving. Carroll Township police served Grados with a copy of her application.

Grados, who also was part of a custody dispute, claimed he attempted to file a PFA application against his wife during the same time frame, but he was unable to do so because the courthouse was closed during Independence Day weekend.

In the federal civil case, Grados is demanding a jury trial and $300,000 in damages. The most recent action in this case was Joy Flowers Conti, chief United States district judge, earlier this month recusing herself and asking the clerk to assign it to another jurist.