A Westmoreland County judge on Monday delayed a trial for a Latrobe attorney accused of bilking a jailed client.
Acting on a defense request, Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio approved the two-month postponement of the theft case filed against attorney John Allen Roth.
The defense said the delay was to await a prosecution decision as to whether additional charges will be filed against Roth, who is accused of taking $31,000 from a client’s bank account to gamble with at a local casino.
At a preliminary hearing late last year, investigators testified that since Roth’s arrest, the district attorney’s office had received as many as 10 new complaints alleging misconduct by Roth. No additional charges have been filed and Roth has maintained his innocence.
Roth is facing nine criminal counts, including theft of proceeds of unlawful activities, theft, financial exploitation, deceptive business practices and related offenses. Prosecutors claim Roth, with the help of a co-defendant, stole funds from a jail inmate’s bank account after he was hired as her lawyer despite her already having an assigned attorney.
Tina Curry, 50, of Mt. Pleasant was charged as a co-defendant with six felony offenses, including theft counts and conspiracy. She was freed on a $2,500 unsecured bond in late January, according to court records.
Roth appeared in court for Monday’s brief hearing. He has been free since early January after posting a $75,000 bond.
“He’s in failing health and living in a nursing home,” said defense attorney Brian Aston. “He’s been falling and he’s in pretty bad physical condition.”
Roth’s law license was suspended and he is not permitted to work as an attorney as he awaits disposition of his criminal case.