Wecht resigns, proclaims innocence

Allegheny County Medical Examiner Cyril H. Wecht resigned Friday after a federal grand jury indicted him on 84 charges that imperil the career of the world-renowned forensic pathologist.

Wecht, 74, of Squirrel Hill, defrauded Allegheny and other counties, forced public employees to do private work, used his office to support his private business, lied during a deposition and traded unclaimed corpses for lab space at Carlow University, the indictment states.

"He used the fact that he was the coroner of Allegheny County to generate business," said U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan, adding that public employees are intended to "benefit Allegheny County, not to benefit Cyril Wecht personally."

"Probably the most significant aspect of this fraud is that Cyril Wecht used employees paid for by the county for his personal benefit," Buchanan said in announcing the charges and separate indictments against two former coroner's office employees.

Wecht, who had promised to resign if indicted when named to the newly created medical examiner position last month, smiled and proclaimed his innocence as he left his private law office Downtown.

"I think I'll survive," he said, adding the indictment was not a surprise. "It's not a day at the beach."

A spokesman for his legal team, defense attorney Mark Rush, said they will fight the charges.

"Moreover, we will mount a legal assault on the investigative tactics and the substantive charges contained in the indictment," said Rush, who claimed Buchanan overstepped her jurisdiction.

Colleagues saddened

It is the second time Wecht has faced criminal charges of using public employees for private gain. An Allegheny County jury acquitted him in 1981 of a theft of services charge.

Colleagues and fellow politicians said they were saddened, but not surprised, by the indictment.

"He's considered one of the leading forensic pathologists in the country," said Dr. Michael Baden, a chief medical examiner for the New York state police who appears on television with as much frequency as his friend Wecht.

"It's just a sadness that this difficulty arose," he said.

"He was one of the best managers we had in the row offices," said former county Chief Executive Jim Roddey, a one-time political opponent who contributed to Wecht's legal defense fund. "I'm sorry that he's got this cloud over his head. But if the allegations are true, then he'll have to pay the price like everyone else."

Buchanan's office charged Wecht with theft of services, mail fraud, wire fraud and theft. He will not be arrested but instead summoned to appear at an arraignment at a later date.

Wecht sent several corpses a month -- for at least a year -- from the morgue to Carlow for use by students, Buchanan said.

Wecht previously said he used laboratories at the school for the private autopsies he conducts for surrounding counties and other clients. The indictment claims the lab space was provided to Wecht "in exchange for those cadavers and other considerations."

A Carlow spokeswoman denied the university traded space for cadavers, saying the Oakland school "provided facilities to Dr. Wecht for the purpose of teaching autopsy procedure."

Fraud alleged

The federal probe of Wecht's office became public last April when FBI agents raided the coroner's office, seizing files that included documents on the Kennedy assassination, the death of Elvis Presley and the JonBenet Ramsey slaying.

Several employees were called before the grand jury, including Wecht's chief deputy, Joseph Dominick, who learned last summer he was a target of the investigation. Authorities also seized files from surrounding counties -- including Westmoreland and Armstrong -- where Wecht did private work.

The indictment alleges that Wecht -- during his most recent stint as coroner from 1996 until he became medical examiner earlier this month -- used his public staff, office, fax machine and vehicles to perform "a substantial portion" of the work at his private Downtown firm, Cyril H. Wecht & Pathology Associates.

That included county employees using county cars to transport him and relatives to the airport, and ordering them to run errands such as walking his dog, taking out his trash, and buying tennis balls and nostril swimming plugs, the indictment states.

Despite Wecht's public statements last year that no specimens from privately contracted cases ever made their way through the morgue, the indictment states Wecht used the coroner's office to examine evidence from "black lung" cases handled by his private firm.

The fraud charges involve allegations that Wecht over-billed private clients, including neighboring counties. The indictment claims he charged counties for mileage reimbursements, even though he used a county car that was fueled and maintained with public tax dollars. It also charges he created false invoices for limousine services and from a defunct travel agency.

During one trip to Greensburg in a county car, Wecht got a parking ticket from a Greensburg police officer. The indictment states that Wecht had an assistant in the coroner's office write a letter to Greensburg police, even though he was testifying at the Westmoreland County Courthouse for a private fee.

Greensburg police Capt. George Seranko said the letter requested that the ticket be tossed out.

"We sent a letter back saying, 'Sorry, you still have to pay it,'" Seranko said. "And he ended up paying the ticket."

Disputed origins

A separate indictment against former chief forensic pathologist Leon Rozin, 73, of O'Hara, charges him with submitting false mileage reimbursement invoices to Butler and Washington counties, where he did private work.

An indictment against former chief histologist George Hollis, 60, of Hazelwood, charges him with theft for doing work for Wecht on county time at the coroner's office. He is also charged with failing to file federal income tax returns and lying to FBI agents.

Hollis was one of three top assistants who resigned last year after being questioned by FBI agents investigating Wecht. Hollis and Rozin could not be reached. Rozin's attorney, Martin Dietz, declined to comment.

The indictment claims Wecht violated state law by allowing autopsies on the cadavers sent to Carlow and for failing to file state financial disclosure forms for three years. District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. declined to comment.

Wecht's legal team blamed Zappala for launching a politically motivated investigation last spring that served as the "genesis" of the federal probe.

"This investigation started with the fanciful allegations made against Dr. Wecht by his political rival, the Allegheny County District Attorney, concerning the respective authority of their offices during the course of homicide investigations," Rush said in a written response to the indictment.

Uncertain future

County Chief Executive Dan Onorato declined to comment on the indictment. He said yesterday he does not regret appointing Wecht as medical examiner during the federal investigation.

"What we put in place was put in place in case this scenario played out and we'd have a smooth transition." he said. "I don't think anyone in this room can dispute the qualifications of Dr. Cyril Wecht. We probably had one of the best in the country already."

Onorato named forensic pathologist Dr. Abdulrezak Shakir acting medical examiner while a team of local medical and educational leaders -- including county health department director Dr. Bruce Dixon -- conducts a national search for a replacement.

Rush would not say whether Wecht will continue his practice of appearing on national news programs to speak about other cases.

When asked if he was concerned about how the indictment would affect his reputation, Wecht said, "Reputation is in the eyes of the beholder, as is beauty."