PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Review
BY PAUL PEIRCE | Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Attorneys for a Somerset County priest convicted of molesting boys in a Honduran orphanage filed documents Tuesday in federal court in Pittsburgh indicating that his family has paid $70,000 in court-ordered fines, costs and restitution, effectively ending a dispute with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Last week, U.S. Attorney David Hickton’s office had asked a judge to freeze $1.2 million in assets held by the Rev. Joseph Maurizio for 60 days, alleging he was quietly transferring money and other property to relatives since March 1, when he was sentenced to nearly 17 years in prison.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Haines alleged in a motion that Maurizio, 70, had made no attempt to pay the fines, costs and restitution stemming from his conviction, despite Judge Kim Gibson’s order to begin making payments within 10 days of his sentencing.
Maurizio’s attorneys, Steven P. Passarello of Altoona and Thomas Farrell of Pittsburgh, in their court filing provided copies of bank drafts of $70,000 that relatives withdrew from the priest’s accounts Friday and forwarded via certified mail to the federal clerk’s office in Pittsburgh.
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