Sorry, I should have linked this one.
http://www.citizensvoice.com/news/former-lackawanna-county-chief-of-staff-pleads-guilty-1.2406856
SCRANTON — Former Lackawanna County chief of staff Andrew Wallace, dressed in a dark suit and white shirt, looked the part of the political operative he’d been for nearly four decades.
But when he raised his right hand and swore an oath before Judge James Gibbons to tell the truth, the fall that began in an Archbald parking lot in June neared its bottom Monday morning in a wood-paneled Scranton courtroom.
Wallace, 66, pleaded guilty to a count of attempted indecent assault. In the eyes of the government he once influenced and worked for, Wallace is a sex offender for the next 15 years.
“It’s a tremendous fall from grace,” District Attorney Mark Powell said. “But he also committed a crime and he’s going to be held accountable just like everybody else.”
Detectives with the district attorney’s office charged Wallace in July on allegations that he, a month earlier, solicited an 18-year-old male clerk for oral sex and tried to grab the man’s genitals outside P&R Discount Grocery in Archbald.
By pleading guilty to attempted indecent assault, Wallace specifically admitted that he tried to grab the victim’s genitals without his consent.
“Do you admit that you committed that act,” asked Gibbons.
“Yes, your honor,” Wallace replied.
A misdemeanor harassment count will be dropped when Wallace is sentenced. The underlying conduct in that charge amounts to soliciting oral sex and licking his lips to sexually arouse a clerk.
The Citizens’ Voice does not identify victims of sexual assault.
Neither Wallace nor his attorney, Amil Minora, said anything as they left the courthouse Monday. At an arraignment in July, Minora told a magistrate, “We believe when the evidence comes out, this will (be found to) be a terrible misunderstanding, not a criminal act.”
The county had no comment, said a spokesman, Joseph D’Arienzo.
Wallace faces a potential maximum of two years in prison but the sentence will ultimately be at Gibbons’ discretion. Wallace could receive a jail sentence, probation or home confinement. Powell declined to say if his office will press for jail time at Wallace’s sentence because he would first like to see the pre-sentencing investigation report, which was just ordered Monday.
A sentencing date is not set and likely won’t be for some time. Also ordered Monday was an assessment to determine if Wallace is a sexually violent predator, which often takes longer than 90 days to complete. Powell said he expects a sentencing date in 2019.
After the plea, Powell stressed that the charge Wallace admitted to requires him to register as a sex offender for the next 15 years. Should he be deemed a sexually violent predator, Wallace would be forced to register for the rest of his life.
A store manager, Ashley Ogozaly, told investigators that Wallace often frequented the store and had become “notorious” for soliciting sex from clerks, according to a criminal complaint. It reached a point where clerks retreated to a back room to avoid Wallace, police said in charging papers.
Wallace had a pattern of targeting Latino clerks who might fear deportation if they didn’t cooperate with his advances, Powell said in July.
Powell said those allegations were thoroughly investigated. Ultimately, though, charges were brought forward alleging just one victim. That was what prosecutors could prove in court but investigators will continue to follow leads, Powell said.
Wallace was the late U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter’s northeast regional executive director for 27 years and served as administrative director for former Republican commissioners Charles Luger and Robert Pettinato from 1980 to 1983. He started as county chief of staff in January 2016 then resigned in June for “family and ongoing medical reasons,” two days after the district attorney’s office confirmed their criminal investigation. He earned a salary of $77,131, according to a February 2018 county employee list.
Wallace remains free pending sentencing on $25,000 unsecured bail.
Contact the writer:
jkohut@timesshamrock.com
@jkohutTT
