Terri Lawson, Rankin’s former borough manager and a Woodland Hills School Board member, is headed to trial on theft charges stemming from alleged credit card misuse during her time as borough manager.
District Judge Richard D. Olasz Jr. on Thursday advanced charges of access device fraud, forgery and one felony count of theft by deception against Lawson.
Two felony charges of theft by deception, and one misdemeanor charge of tampering with evidence, were dropped.
“We’re chipping away at the stone,” said Lawson’s attorney, Phil DiLucente. “My client is not admitting guilt whatsoever.”
A formal arraignment is scheduled May 6 in Downtown Pittsburgh.
Eastern Mon Valley Regional Police accuse Lawson of making almost $10,000 in unauthorized purchases on a Rankin credit card between August and early December.
The complaint said Lawson paid off about $5,600 of the balance during her tenure as borough manager, but still owes $4,300.
At court Thursday, DiLucente made a point to return the credit card to authorities.
DiLucente told reporters after the hearing that the credit card has Lawson’s name on it and there is zero loss to the borough. He described what happened as “a string of administrative inconsistencies.”
“They actually owe her money,” he said. “We’ll get into the mechanics of it at trial, but she had only been in the job for a very short period of time. She also had done everything she possibly could do to help Rankin, and a lot of times, in administrative roles, even though you explain to others what needs to be done, let’s just say they have convenient memories.
“At the end of the day, Terri’s going to be justified.”
DiLucente claimed statements in the complaint aren’t factual. He questioned the amounts listed in the complaint.
“It’s $0 owed on it,” he said. “It’s pretty hard to prove a theft case where there’s $0. Can you say there might have been administrative snafus? Sure, administrative snafus happen every day.”
In February, Lawson stepped down as president of the Woodland Hills School Board, but did not resign from the board.
On Wednesday, the school board voted 7-1 to censure Lawson. The resolution approved by directors requested she resign, although they do not have the power to remove her from the elected position.
In the resolution, district officials cited board policy stating that members removed from an official position elsewhere are no longer qualified to serve on the board. Lawson being fired as Rankin’s manager triggers that condition, they said.
The resolution acknowledged that Lawson denies violating the policy.
Lawson will no longer have access to the district’s networks, technology or her district email, the resolution said, and will be removed from all board committees.
Lawson was not present at Wednesday’s meeting.
Board member Darnika Reed, who dissented, said the district is not able to take away a board member’s school email account.
“I’m perfectly fine with a censure,” Reed said. “I’m not fine with the language in there.”
DiLucente said Lawson’s censure appeared to be political.
“Anybody who gets censured, including presidents of the United States, do not like it, but think about it again — it’s politics,” DiLucente said.