Harrisburg skyline. Photo: Sean Pavone/Shutterstock.comHarrisburg's Chief Public Defender Charged With Paying County Employees to Do Political Work
The Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office has announced charges against Bradley Winnick, the Harrisburg-based chief public defender of Dauphin County, for allegedly approving the use of taxpayer money to compensate county employees for political work.
October 03, 2019 at 05:50 PM
2 minute read
The Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office has announced charges against Bradley Winnick, the Harrisburg-based chief public defender of Dauphin County, for allegedly approving the use of taxpayer money to compensate county employees for political work.
Attorney General Josh Shapiro's office charged Winnick with theft of services, conspiracy, conflict of interest and tampering with public records after an investigation purportedly found that he granted employees a total of $26,000 in compensation for time spent campaigning for an unidentified judicial candidate during the 2017 primary.
Winnick, 47, was arraigned Thursday in Harrisburg district court after turning himself in. He waived his preliminary hearing. Winnick could not be reached for comment Thursday.
County spokeswoman Amy Harinath said Winnick was suspended effective Thursday. Mary Klatt has taken over as the office's acting chief public defender.
"Our election laws are clear—public funds are not to be used to support political work," Shapiro said in a statement released Thursday. "The defendant is charged with approving more than $26,000 in compensatory time for county employees to work on behalf of a political candidate at his direction. He allegedly not only misused taxpayer dollars and attempted to cover it up, but he also undermined the integrity of our democratic process. My office will continue to investigate and prosecute public corruption wherever we find it, no matter what position of power the defendant may hold."
The employees Winnick allegedly compensated included lawyers, paralegals and investigators, prosecutors said. Winnick allegedly granted double compensatory time to employees for each hour they worked and every employee who worked 13 hours at the polls on election days received 26 hours of time.
Employees were tasked with distributing campaign literature and circulating nomination petitions, among other things, according to the charging document.
Prosecutors also claim that Winnick allegedly instructed the office's deputy administrator to not enter the time off into the payroll records, so that the records would show the employees did county work when they were really at the polls.
Winnick started out as the county's first assistant public defender of Dauphin County in 2006. In 2011, he became chief public defender.
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