A Latrobe attorney is accused of exploiting a jail inmate to get access to her bank account, stealing $31,300 and then using the money to gamble at a casino, according to court papers.
Assistant District Attorney Katie Ranker said attorney John Allen Roth used his position of authority to target a vulnerable member of the community and asked that District Judge Chris Flanigan set a high cash bail during a preliminary arraignment.
“I would be concerned about flight, primarily in light of the seriousness of the charges,” Ranker said, in addition to worries about his continued access to paying clients as a lawyer. “He understands, probably more than other criminal defendants, what he is looking at when he’s charged with a felony of the first degree.”
Roth, 69, was arrested Thursday on nine felony charges including dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities, theft, financial exploitation, deceptive business practices and related offenses. He was taken to the Westmoreland County Prison after failing to post $250,000 bail.
The 70-year-old jail inmate, who is from New Kensington, reported to Westmoreland County detectives Sept. 4 that there were several unauthorized transactions on her account while she was being held at the county jail. During her incarceration, Roth visited her at the Hempfield lockup March 13, 19 and 21, records showed.
Although she already had an attorney in her cases, Roth offered to represent her for a $2,500 fee, according to Detective Nick Caesar. The woman reported she signed an agreement and, later, a document that appointed a part-time employee of Roth’s as power of attorney.
At the time those documents were signed, the woman had been deemed incompetent to stand trial, police said.
Roth never entered his appearance in her case and didn’t represent her in court, according to court papers.
Police said bank records showed 14 withdrawals were made from her account between April 23 and Aug. 29 ranging from $100 to $5,000. The part-time employee told investigators she made withdrawals and gave the cash to Roth, sometimes going to Live Casino in Hempfield with him and the funds, according to court papers.
Charges are pending against Roth’s employee.
A review of Roth’s players club account at the casino showed $382,353 in transactions between April 23 and Sept. 1. Police said funds were added to the account that corresponded with the bank withdrawals.
When he was taken into custody by county detectives Thursday afternoon, Roth had a large roll of $100 bills on him, Caesar told Flanigan during the arraignment. Roth told the judge that he borrowed the money from a client to pay another attorney to handle a custody case for him.
“Large quantities of money from a client should be placed in an escrow,” Ranker said, adding that she has concerns Roth has a gambling addiction.
Roth pleaded with Flanigan to not set a monetary bond and promised to attend all court proceedings.
“I don’t have money to be able to post anything at all, I don’t even have $1,000 to post,” he said, adding that he has lost clients because of a cancer diagnosis. “I assure this court I will be here every single time. I would like to keep practicing law, if I can. Cancer has ruined my life and it has made it impossible for me to even make a living.”
“I’m going to have to get a public defender on this case because I have no money available to pay an attorney for anything,” he said.
Roth did not answer a reporter’s questions outside of court. His preliminary hearing is set for Nov. 21.
Roth has been an active attorney since 1979. He was publicly reprimanded by the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in 2016 related to misconduct in the years prior.
The disciplinary board said in the reprimand that Roth filed a divorce case in 2015 against a client he was representing in a civil matter. In a second instance, Roth was representing one party in a divorce and filed a bankruptcy action on behalf of the other party in the divorce, the document said.
In 2012, he came under fire by court officials after two female jurors serving in the penalty phase trial of a murder case accused him of improper contact. Both women, who were wearing badges that indicated they were jurors, said Roth approached them on separate occasions, according to Trib archives.
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One said Roth claimed to be one of the best defense attorneys in the county when he talked to her outside of the courtroom. The second said Roth told her she looked nice while she was sitting in court during jury selection.
At the time, Roth said there was nothing inappropriate about the encounters.
Roth was professionally disciplined in 2009 for borrowing $15,000 from client “without advising him of his right to separate counsel concerning that agreement,” according to the 2016 reprimand.