MOUNT PLEASANT - Mount Pleasant Borough Councilman Eugene Rosky will have to tread lightly if he intends to campaign next year against Westmoreland County Commissioner Tom Balya.
Rosky has been barred from having any direct or indirect contact with Balya as a condition to end the criminal prosecution that resulted from his efforts to campaign against Balya's wife during last year's election.
Earlier this year, Rosky, 69, was charged with one misdemeanor count of an election law violation for improperly distributing campaign material that targeted retention of Balya's wife, Westmoreland County Judge Debra Pezze.
Rosky unsuccessfully sought to have voters toss Pezze off the bench.
Rosky was sentenced this week by Judge John Blahovec to serve nine months' probation and to steer clear of Pezze and her family.
That sentence came as Rosky agreed to participate in the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition Program for first-time, nonviolent offenders. Rosky admitted no guilt by entering the program.
Rosky and Balya have been political adversaries for the better part of a decade.
During last year's judicial retention, Rosky paid more than $5,300 to have 15,000 anti-Pezze leaflets printed and distributed to voters. Those leaflets criticized Pezze's rulings from the bench and suggested she illegally campaigned for her husband during the 1999 commissioners race.
Rosky was charged with an election law violation because he did not include any notice on those campaign materials as to who paid for them. Just days after the November election, Balya reported the leaflets to county detectives, who through their investigation determined Rosky had paid for the printing and distribution.
Balya is expected to run next year for a third term as county commissioner.
Earlier this year, Rosky's son, Eugene Rosky Jr., lost a federal lawsuit he filed against Balya and the county. The younger Rosky claimed he was fired from his job in the county's tax assessment office as part of a vendetta by Balya against his father.
