FORGERY CHARGE Ex-schools manager faces a court date

Roger Havey was the victim because he lost his job, his brother contends.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- The former city schools business manager was bound over to court on charges of forgery and tampering with records and identification.
Roger John Havey, 49, of Aliquippa, Pa., was arrested and charged earlier this month. He is free without monetary bond.
State police believe Havey altered the official Pennsylvania State Police Act 34 Criminal History Check while seeking a job in the district. He was hired as business administrator in December 2002. The school board fired Havey in June 2003 after a hearing in which he admitted he changed the document to eliminate his theft conviction in 1990 in Elks County.
Havey has appealed the school board's decision to Lawrence County Common Pleas Court. A judge is now considering it.
Havey contends he changed the document at the request of schools Superintendent George Gabriel. Gabriel denies that.
State police said they believe Havey acted alone, and no criminal charges are pending against any other employees of the school district.
The testimony
Gabriel testified Wednesday that on March 12, 2003, Havey gave him a copy of an Act 34 Clearance showing no criminal record.
Sometime after that, schools Solicitor Charles Sapienza informed Gabriel that Havey may have had a criminal conviction, Gabriel said. Sapienza eventually confirmed that Havey had a theft conviction and Gabriel confronted Havey with the information on April 29, 2003, the superintendent said.
"His response was that there was in fact another Act 34 Clearance. I told him if there was I would expect him to resign, and he became irate," Gabriel said. "He said if he was going down, he was going to bring me down."
Havey brought the original Act 34 Clearance showing his theft conviction to Gabriel the next day, Gabriel said. Gabriel said he again asked Havey to resign and he refused. Havey was eventually put on administrative leave before the school board fired him in June.
Altered a copy
Havey's attorney, his brother John Havey, asked that the charges be dropped because his brother did not alter the original document, only a copy.
Assistant District Attorney Birgitta Tolvanen said the state fraud statute contends that fraud can occur in any writing, not just original documents.
John Havey also argued that Roger Havey's conviction is not one that would preclude him from working at a school district. State law outlines certain crimes where a conviction precludes people from working in schools.
John Havey contends that his brother, not the school district, was the victim.
"The injury was to the defendant. He lost his job over this. The New Castle School District did not lose one penny. An action without a victim is not a crime. There is no crime here," John Havey said.
But District Justice James Reed disagreed and held the matter for common pleas court. A formal arraignment should occur sometime in the next few months and then a trial date will be set.
cioffi@vindy.com