Jan 8, 2020 4 min read

For nearly four years, Frank Scandale was in charge of docketing hundreds of criminal cases as the Washington County clerk of courts. On Wednesday, the case of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania vs. Frank Scandale was on its way to become one of them.

Scandale, 52, of Canonsburg, waived his right to a preliminary hearing before Washington Magisterial District Judge Robert Redlinger on seven counts of theft, one count of theft by failure to make required disposition of funds received and misapplication of entrusted government property. Authorities have pegged the amount of money missing from his row office at more than $96,000.

The defendant arrived alone and was in the courtroom only a matter of minutes.

Asked if he anticipated making any comment about his first court appearance since his Nov. 21 arraignment, he referred questions to his nearby attorney, Michael DeRiso, who immediately interjected, “He has nothing to say, so please don’t ask him questions.”

After signing paperwork related to the waiver, Scandale left alone carrying a document box.

Asked why Scandale and his attorney did not take advantage of the opportunity to question a prosecution witness, DeRiso said, “After speaking with Evan Lowry from the attorney general’s office, who I’ve been communicating with since the arrest, I thought it was in my client’s best interest at this level to waive the case and given the low threshold that the government needed to meet, that we’ll proceed to common pleas court.”

DeRiso noted the next step would be Scandale’s formal arraignment in late February.

“While that’s happening, I’ll get the discovery, the evidence, and work with the attorney general’s office to have complete transparency based on what I see and my conversations with my client,” DeRiso said. “We’ll then decide how to proceed.”

He described Scandale as “embarrassed, I think he’s clearly more concerned about his family and his children. Although the charges would suggest that he was a rather selfish individual, if you got to know Frank, that’s not what he’s about. I’m not sure what happened here, but as we get into it, we’ll figure out what’s going on. I think he’s more concerned about his family, and I think he’s scared.

“Once we get the evidence, we’ll see what the evidence is, we’ll see who the witnesses are and we’ll see how exactly they investigated the case. Then we’ll make decisions.”

Deputy Attorney General Evan Lowry referred any inquires to his agency’s press office.

A count of theft by failure to make required disposition of funds was reduced from a second-degree felony to the lesser third-degree because “a felony of the third degree for theft offenses is charged when the amount is between $2,000 but less than $100,000,” responded Jacklin Rhoads of the attorney general’s press office.

A member of the state police Organized Crime Task Force was on hand to testify about the case if needed, but he also exited the magistrate’s office.

Financial irregularities in the clerk of courts office became apparent in mid-July when Washington County Controller Michael Namie informed the county commissioners of an audit. Money was missing from the row office, which handles payments in criminal cases and for various criminal cases and other miscellaneous matters.

The commissioners turned Namie’s findings over to state police, whose investigation noted $50,534 in missing cash deposits in 2019 and $39,714 in missing checks, bringing the total to $96,716, charging documents indicated.

Although police did not reveal a motive, one sentence of a four-page affidavit of probable cause accompanying the criminal charges filed against Scandale references five liens placed against him from 2015 to 2019 totaling $64,288.

The largest of these was filed with the prothonotary in 2016 by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Internal Revenue Service for $46,911. The form reports this amount accumulated during tax periods ending Dec. 31, 2011, 2012 and 2013.

State police revealed when Scandale was charged that a Chicago-based firm conducted a forensic investigation into the financial records of the row office.

Scandale, a Democrat, was a candidate in the Nov. 5 election for a second, four-year term, but he lost to former Washington Mayor Brenda Davis, now a Republican.

She and fellow GOP row officers, who swept contested races in the election, had their first day on the job Monday.

Scandale remains free on $100,000 unsecured bond.