(PA) Years after conviction, former County Councilman McCullough taken into custody

[left-of-center2012]

Former Allegheny County Councilman Charles P. McCullough was taken into custody Tuesday morning to begin serving his sentence on theft charges following a sprawling court case dating back over a decade. He appeared in Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge David R. Cashman’s courtroom and was immediately taken into custody ...

McCullough, 66, was ordered last month by to comply with his 2½- to 5-year prison sentence after the state Supreme Court declined to hear his final appeal. Judge Cashman dropped the minimum sentence to 22½ months.

The charges stemmed from when McCullough was arrested in 2009 for writing more than $40,000 in checks for political contributions with money taken from an elderly widow he represented. The woman, Shirley H. Jordan, was a 90-year-old widow of a successful real estate businessman. McCullough was put in charge of her trust in 2006 ... When the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette interviewed Ms. Jordan about the checks, she said McCullough had taken too much control in her affairs and called him a cheap politician, according to court records.

https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2021/04/06/charles-mccullough-allegheny-county-councilman-arrested-taken-custody-theft/stories/202104060106

[marble falls]

1. Dispicable him.

[Probatim]

2. No where in the article does it state his party affiliation.

It takes a little digging, but it can be found elsewhere - https://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=140571

It shouldn't come as a surprise.

[jimfields33]

3. That sucks too because Allegheny has Pittsburgh

So some may think it’s a Democratic politician.

[left-of-center2012]

4. A lot of Trumpers in SW Pa n/t

[jimfields33]

5. I know. But Pittsburgh is pretty democratic.

[BumRushDaShow]

6. But mainly just Pittsburgh

the rest is relatively red.

[jimfields33]

7. That is true.

Without Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania would be deep red.

[BumRushDaShow]

9. See below what I just posted about this guy and his wife -

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1074&pid=14378

And regarding the rest of PA, the rim counties around Philly are now mostly blue and you do still have parts of NE PA (Lehigh Valley), plus NW PA (Erie city) that are blue. The rest of the state is mostly rural and red, although it probably makes sense that they would be.

[BumRushDaShow]

8. This guy's wife is a PA Commonwealth Court loon judge

Patricia McCullough, who attempted to block the certification of the votes here in PA.

Link to tweet

TEXT

southpaw
@nycsouthpaw
·
Nov 25, 2020
Strange
Zoe Tillman
@ZoeTillman
New: In a GOP challenge to PA election results, a state court judge has ordered the state to not act "to the extent that there remains any further action to perfect the certification of the results" — it's not immediately clear what that means since PA certified the results yest.
Image
Image
🌲
Andy
👣
from
👣
Oregon
🌲
@AndrewFmOregon
The Republican judge in this case, Patricia McCullough, has quite the history.

Her husband was implicated in a theft, fraud, and misapplication of funds case for steering money to GOP candidates via a Catholic charity SHE ran.
Newspaper story prompted suspicion of McCullough
Former board chairman of Catholic Charities testifies at trial for attorney charged with stealing funds from elderly widow’s trust fund.
post-gazette.com
12:14 PM · Nov 25, 2020

She was eventually overruled by the state Supreme Court.

Pennsylvania Supreme Court strikes down GOP bid to stop election certification
By Lauren Vella - 11/28/20 07:23 PM EST



The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Saturday rejected a last-ditch bid from Republicans including Rep. Mike Kelly (Pa.) to halt the certification of the 2020 election results in the Keystone State. The court's decision delivered the latest blow for Republicans, President Trump and his campaign to overturn election results in a battleground state that President-elect Joe Biden won by more than 1 percentage point.

In an order released Saturday night, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court vacated a preliminary order by the Commonwealth Court and dismissed the case. "Upon consideration of the parties' filings in Commonwealth Court, we hereby dismiss the petition for review with prejudice based upon Petitioners' failure to file their facial constitutional challenge in a timely manner," the order read.

The ruling comes after Commonwealth Court Judge Patricia McCullough on Wednesday ordered state officials to halt further steps to certify the state's election results one day after Gov. Tom Wolf (D) certified the Keystone State's results for Biden. Following McCullough's order, Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Kathy Boockvar and Wolf appealed the order to the state's high court.

The latest order by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court reverses McCullough's decision.

https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/527838-pennsylvania-supreme-court-strikes-down-gop-bid-to-stop-election

[jimfields33]

10. SHE should go to jail too

It was her charity she was running and didn’t know what her slimy husband was up to? Highly unlikely. And then there is her treason against the United States. What a couple. GOP sure knows how to pick em.

[BumRushDaShow]

11. Agree!

[PA Democrat]

13. Even worse, Patricia McCullough is running for the PA Supreme Court

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The husband of a Pennsylvania appellate judge who is running for the state’s highest court began serving a prison sentence Tuesday in a long-running case involving taking money from an elderly woman’s trust fund to benefit several political campaigns and a charity connected to his wife.

Charles McCullough’s incarceration comes as voters decide whether to back his wife, Commonwealth Judge Patricia McCullough, in her bid for an open seat on Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court.

Patricia McCullough is seeking the Republican nomination in May 18?s primary election against two fellow Republican judges, Commonwealth Court Judge Kevin Brobson and Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Paula Patrick.

Her husband’s criminal case has yet to emerge publicly as a campaign issue in a significant way — if at all — even though Patricia McCullough’s name surfaced in court testimony and newspaper stories about it going back more than a decade.



https://www.pennlive.com/news/2021/04/husband-of-pa-high-court-candidate-begins-prison-sentence.html

[BumRushDaShow]

14. I know this year is primarily a judicial election

although here in Philly we also have a D.A. election.

I want to keep our 5 (D) - 2 (R) majority in the state Supreme Court for DAMN sure! I am still waiting for the city to send out my mail-in ballot.

[FakeNoose]

12. McCullough was a representative from Upper Saint Clair

... which is a wealthy, older McMansion suburb in southwestern Allegheny County. Mr. McCullough was on the county board, which is separate from the City government. The county board is generally comprised of GOP members which often outnumber the Dems on the council by a 2-to-1 margin. Allegheny County's general manager is an elected position, and I can't remember that ever going to a Democrat.

To be sure, there are Democrats to be found throughout this 4-county area surrounding Pittsburgh, but the concentration isn't nearly as saturated as we have in the city. I'm sure Philadelphia is very similar.

This guy is a creep and I'm glad he's finally in custody. Enjoy your 22 months in the lock-up, creep!