The Roundup

Joemygod.com

A weekly tab on what's going on in the courts.

By Shealyn Kilroy
for BigTrial.net

Infamous gay-basher Kathryn Knott caught local and national attention from the media this week
for her Feb. 8 sentencing. Knott, from Bucks Country, will face 5 to 10 months in prison, followed by two years of reporting probation, in addition to paying $2000 in fines on Feb. 8 for her role in the Sept. 11, 2014 attack on 16th and Chancellor Streets.

If Knott’s name never showed up in mainstream media, who knows if it would have shown up in the courts. As daughter of police chief Karl Knott, Kathryn apparently possessed the “my daddy’s a cop, I can get away with anything” mentality. She was convicted of misdemeanors, no felonies. It’s fair to question whether Knott would have been charged at all if this case wasn’t spotlighted.

U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Michele Ford, 61, of Philadelphia was charged on Feb. 10 for allegedly and fraudulently cashing in her deceased father’s Social Security and pension benefits after he died in Feb. 2011. From the time of his death to when the fraud was discovered in Sept 2013, Ford allegedly stole approximately $44,186 from the government and $2,800 in pension checks. If found guilty, Ford could face 15 years in prison and a fine of $44,186 in restitution to the government.

Patricia McGill
 Facebook

Registered nurse and director of a Northeast Philadelphia hospice center Patricia McGill, 68, of Philadelphia was convicted by a federal grand jury on Feb. 8 for taking part in a multi-million dollar scheme, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office. McGill authorized and supervised the admission of inappropriate and ineligible patients for hospice services which added up to around $9.32 million in fraudulent claims at Professional Services for Home Care Hospice between 2005 to 2008. The jury found McGill guilty of four counts of healthcare fraud. Co-owners of the business, Matthew Kolodesh and Alex Pugman, were convicted separately. McGill could face up to over three years in prison, a fine, and a $400 special assessment. Sentencing is scheduled for May 24.


Philadelphia District Attorney:
17-year-old Giovanni Cotto who is charged in the shooting Pennsylvania State trooper Patrick Casey is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing on Feb. 11, according to the District Attorney’s office. The shooting occurred back on Nov. 24, 2015 during a chase on I-676 in Center City that ended into a fiery crash with a yellow school bus and the suspect’s car. Casey was wounded and left Hahnemann University Hospital one day following the shooting. Cotto is being charged as an adult, and bail is set at $3 million.

Pennsylvania Attorney General:

Mark Makela/Files/Reuters

The real winner out of the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office this week was the Attorney General herself. The Senate voted to not remove Kathleen Kane from office despite her perjury allegations and her suspended law license. Following the vote, Kane released a statement that she would continue the investigation into inappropriate email exchanges occurring in the judiciary.

New Jersey Attorney General:

Thomas Ballard
New  Jersey Attorney
General's Office

Thomas L. Bowen Ballard, 38, of Egg Harbor Township, N.J., was sentenced on Feb. 12 for sending thousands of pictures and videos of child pornography via email, according to the Attorney General’s office. Ballard was sentenced to seven years in state prison, including three and a half years of parole ineligibility. Ballard bragged to private investigators on a child porn trading site that he had impregnated an eight-year-old girl. When a search warrant was executed on Ballard’s home, he locked himself in a bathroom and dropped his Android phone down the toilet. Investigators found that Ballard sent around 12,000 videos and images of child pornography to other users from Aug. 2012 through Aug. 2014, including videos of prepubescent girls being bound and tortured. Ballard pleaded guilty on Sept. 24 and admitted that he sent more than 1,000 files of child pornography via email to other users.

Shealyn Kilroy can be reached at shealyn@bigtrial.net.