To Whom this Concerns,
I recently read my cellie’s “Prison News Letter” and noticed your ad in the paper about submitting personal accounts of going through the judicial process and being denied a fair trial due to Prosecutorial Misconduct, Ineffective lawyers, Judges who were going outside of their duty, etc. Well, I have quite possibly the worst horror story of being railroaded that you may have ever heard. In fact, I’m willing to bet that you won’t believe me at first. You’ll assume I MUST be lying or at least exaggerating my version of events. However, I have ALL of the transcripts and evidence to support all of this. This story won’t be short and for that, I apologize, but I want to tell it all.
First things first, my name is Jeremy Benjamin O’Grosky. I’m now 42 years old. I’m currently serving a 10-to-20-year sentence for bank robbery. My inmate number is QJ5451. I’m now serving my sentence at SCI Greene in Waynesburg, PA. It all started, I suppose, on June 17th, 2014, at 2:04pm when, according to 4 witnesses, a “5’10”, 160 pounds, bearded black man”, walked into the First Commonwealth bank in Delmont, PA. He approached the teller and robbed the bank. Afterwards he exited the bank and got into a car driven by a “white male in a baseball hat”. At this point, it’s important to point out that I am a 5’7”, 220-pound, clean shaved WHITE MALE. So how did I, a white man who is not skinny and not tall get convicted of a bank robbery that was allegedly committed by a skinny, taller, black man? Slow down baby bird, I’ll feed you.
So, the description of the bank robber (160lbs, 5’10”, bearded black man) was sent out to all the media, cops and even the FBI. Well, 2 days later, me and my then girlfriend (who was a Corrections Officer at Armstrong County jail, that I met at that jail while I was serving a parole hit) were in her car driving to drop off her kids to her estranged husband. We were pulled over for a frivolous reason and a search of the car was granted. The car was in her name, Amanda Thomas Crusan. During the search, there were additional plain clothed task force cops who “just so happened” to come upon the scene and “volunteered” to help search. Eventually the cops found 5 bricks of heroin in the trunk of her car. We were both arrested and at the police station the police found 5 bags of heroin (matching the same name of the 5 bricks of heroin found in the truck) secreted in Amanda’s “vagina”.
Crusan wrote a statement on me saying they were mine (the drugs). However, they were not mine. They were hers. She was delivering them to her estranged husband, Eric Crusan, who was working with the Attorney Generals office as a Confidential Informant. He had set her up and I got dragged in with her. While we were in jail, she and I would often write to each other, secretly through notes we’d hide in the jail library. In two of her letters, she admits to me that the drugs were hers and thanks me for “taking the hit for her” (as I was going to say they were mine so she wouldn’t get in trouble. Love makes you do dumb things). Yes, I still have these letters. They were supposed to have been important, but we’ll get there.
At this time the police did a search of my home due to being on State Parole and being found in a car with heroin. The search was for drugs. They didn’t find any drugs in my home, but her and I were both charged with Possession with Intent to Distribute, Possession of Contraband, and Simple Possession. That’s it! I found out that the P.A. State Troopers had questioned her about an alleged bank robbery, but she wasn’t a suspect. Almost a year later, I was in my cell (I had a parole detainer, so I wasn’t able to get a bond) and I get told to “go down to booking”. Now anyone who has been to jail knows that when you get told to “go to booking” it’s to be given NEW CHARGES. I had NO IDEA what they could be. But I go down and soon enough I learn that I’m being charged with a Bank Robbery!! I get a Prelim court date and a court appointed Attorney, Valerie Veltri. At my Prelim I meet this court appointed attorney and she right away tells me “We’re going to wave this hearing”. She sounds just like Marge Simpson’s sister Velma with that smoker’s voice. I tell her “Absolutely not, we aren’t waving this hearing”. She’s your typical court appointed attorney who depends on these court appointed clients, meaning she works FOR the Commonwealth and D. A’s and won’t bite the hand that feeds her. So, they do their best to APPEAR as if they are defending you, but really, they are doing their best to make it easy for the prosecution. So, I asked for and received a postponement so I could retain a private attorney. My new girlfriend gets me Marc Daffner from Pittsburgh, PA. We have the Prelim. At the Prelim, my ex-girlfriend, the former C.O., Amanda Crusan, is now alleging that I robbed this bank WITH HER. She said I put make-up on to “Alter my Ethnic Appearance”, used nail polish gloss on my fingertips to “avoid leaving finger prints”, robbed the bank, then got into her car where she was waiting, that I went INTO THE TRUCK (through the fold down seat) where I then shaved my face and head, removed the make-up, changed my clothes again, ALL WHILE IN A DARK CRAMPED TRUCK. Then, she said she drove me to a Parole mandated drug and alcohol appointment… like I’m Jason Bourne.
I had my lawyer ask her if she had ever falsely accused me of a crime before. She admitted that she did. She accused me of committing a theft, WITH HER, back in February of 2014 (a year before this alleged bank robbery). In this incident, Amanda Crusan and her brother-in-law Denny stole lottery tickets from a gas station. She initially told the investigating cop (OFC Goldinger of Appollo P.D.) that it was ME who did it with her. But later both her AND her brother-in-law Denny, admitted they were the ones who committed the theft and that I wasn’t even there when it happened. Charges on me for that theft were dropped. I felt this was important to show how she has done this in the past, accuse me of a crime SHE has done. Crusan admitted this at the Prelim and the Trooped admitted there were NO finger prints of mine at the bank, no money found in my possession linking me to this bank, but apparently there was enough “Prima Facia” to push it to the big court.
Months later, while I was still in the Westmoreland County jail, I was approached by an inmate named Billy Ray Boggs who said HE was the one who committed this bank robbery WITH Amanda Crusan. He told me they were “seeing each other” while I was dating her. Then they began using heroin together and selling it. Then she got in debt and came up with the idea to rob this bank, that apparently Amanda used to work at! I told my lawyer, and he advised me to ask Boggs if he would be willing to testify to this. I asked Boggs and to my surprise he agreed. My lawyer, Marc Daffner, told me to have Boggs write him a letter stating all of this and sign it. Boggs complied and wrote my lawyer this confession letter. Yes, I still have that original letter as my lawyer Marc Daffner turned it and all of my file over to me once I was found guilty.
In 2016, I “maxed out” my state time and was able to post bond. I came home and I was able to get my discovery. And discover I did. It turned out that there was NO WARRANT to search my home. IN FACT, when the police searched my home on June 21st of 2014, I wasn’t even a suspect of this robbery as Amanda Crusan didn’t tell the police that I robbed this bank until November of 2014. So, how did the police search my house in June of 2014 looking for and taking into evidence items allegedly used during this robbery? NO ONE KNOWS because there was never a search warrant issued. Again, I wasn’t even a suspect when they searched and neither was she! Then, we (my attorney and I) found out that the Trooper (who initiated this whole thing), Trooper Eric Zona of the PA Troopers Barracks in Kiski, was suspended, about to be indicted, and then committed suicide. He was charged with EXPOSING HIMSELF to a KID!!! Yeah, real trust worthy. Anyway, this Trooper filed the Affidavit of Probable Cause for the arrest warrant. In the Affidavit of Probable Cause, he “Purposefully errored, misled, and omits fact” to secure the arrest warrant. He changed dates to they all look like it happened in a clean chronological order. And he says when Crusan and I were pulled over on June 19th of 2014 that I “fit the description of the suspect who robbed the Frist Commonwealth Bank on June 17th of 2014”. But how could I have fit the description on June 19th, 2014, when AT THAT TIME, the description was a 5’10”, 160 lbs., BLACK MAN? Remember, it wasn’t until November of 2014 that Crusan said I put make-up on to alter my ethnic appearance. The truth is, I didn’t fit the description when I was pulled over. Trooper Zona only typed that so the Judge who signed the Warrant would think I was a suspect the whole time INCLUDING when they conducted the search on my house and Crusan’s Car. You can google all the info about Trooper Zona, and I have all the Transcripts and Discovery including that Affidavit of Probable Cause that was authored by the disgraced Troooper Zona if you want proof. So, at this point there is no evidence other than a black bag, makeup, and a notebook found at my house with NO WARRANT. I am a Title Searcher/Abstractor, so the “black bag” was my laptop bag. The notebook was found in my office and the makeup… well, I’m guilty of dating and living with a girl who uses make-up, obviously I must have done it, right? I had evidence that Crusan had accused me of a crime (I DIDN’T DO) before and there’s letters she wrote to me admitting that the drugs were hers and she was bringing those drugs to her estranged husband, AND there’s a person confession, so I should be good, right? But that’s not all, turns out that the last video footage of the bank robber was at 2:09pm in Delmont, PA at the bank and I was visually seen by my drug and alcohol counselor Alecia McGough at her office in McKeesport, PA at 2:45pm. That’s a 36-minute window, right? Well, if you google map the address of the bank and the address of the drug and alcohol place it says the estimated drive time is 1 hour and 5 minutes! So, how could I have been at the bank at 2:09pm AND at the office in McKeesport at 2:45pm? (This doesn’t include the process of getting buzzed in, signing the log book and waiting to be seen! So, even though my counselor says she spoke with me at 2:45pm, that doesn’t mean that I arrived at 2:45pm. The process can take 10-15 minutes to get seen!) So, with all of this going for me of course I’ll be proven innocent, right? There is also my alibi where I was prior to my drug and alcohol meeting and alibi witness. My negative urine test from parole. The specs on the trunk show it’s too small for a person to fit in there and complete all of what Crusan alleged. And the dirty cop!
Unfortunately, my lawyer was becoming too confident! In fact, he never once prepared me or reviewed his trial strategy. He kept saying “there’s no way a jury will find you guilty for this”. He had the same attitude that Mike Tyson had prior to fighting Buster Douglas. No one thought that Mike would lose. Neither did Mike. So, he didn’t take it seriously. Well, the night of the fight, Mike got knocked out.. because he didn’t prepare. My lawyer said he was going to do this and that. Call this witness and that witness. But I felt something was wrong.
My lawyer didn’t file one suppression hearing. No Franks hearing was held over the illegal search and seizure of the “evidence” they found at my house 5 MONTHS before I was a suspect. The day of the trial we picked a jury, then there was a hearing held for motions from the D.A. and stipulations. The Judge, Rita Hathaway (Who is fondly known as Rita “the Hatchet” Hathaway) seemed to be coaching the Assistant D.A. James Lazar. She “advised” him to do this or that. “Recommended” he say it this way, etc. Then ALLOWED the D.A. to question my Parole officer, Joyce Douglas, which of course was a tactic by the prosecution to tell the jury that I was in trouble in the past. This obviously was prejudicial to the jury in my case because now they will infer from my P.O.’s testimony that I’m on PAROLE. The Judge also ruled that my lawyer WASN’T ALLOWED to bring up, in questioning Amanda Crusan, that she lied about me committing a crime with her in the past. So, the jury never got to hear that Crusan perjured herself in the past. Then, Judge Hathaway ruled in the A.D.A’s motion to ALLOW the D.A. to imply that I was selling AND using drugs (implying that, THAT was my motive for robbing the bank). However, I later learned that, THAT is illegal because for one, I’ve never been convicted of ANY drug crime in my past and two, there is no FACTUAL NEXUS linking this bank robbery to my alleged drug sales or use. This should be EXTREMELY Prejudicial to my case with the jury. This Judge single-handedly TIPPED the scales of justice in favor of the Prosecution.
During my trial (which lasted 3 days) the D.A. called 6 witnesses (the bank teller, 2 troopers, my Parole agent, my drug and alcohol counselor, and my “co-defendant”/ex-girlfriend Amanda Crusan) to the stand. The D.A. asked a grand total of 668 questions, my lawyer asked less than 150! Some witnesses were only asked 7 or 8 questions by my lawyer. My lawyer did not make ONE objection during the WHOLE TRIAL. Even though I specifically asked my lawyer to object, he refused. The D.A. presented pictures of me IN JAIL (to “show I had tattoos”, even though NO tattoos were said to exist on the robber). The D.A. presented a “picture of my living room chair” to show “where a B.B gun used to be”. NOT a picture of a B.B. gun. Just a picture of a chair. The reason was because allegedly when my P.O. WENT TO MY HOUSE, SHE FOUND A B.B. GUN. She took it into evidence at the P.O. office. Well years went by, and she retired and since I wasn’t a suspect of ANY crime alleged to have happened, the B.B. gun sat in evidence. After she retired, the B.B. gun was destroyed. So, the D.A. didn’t have the B.B. gun, the D.A. didn’t even have a picture of the B.B. gun. So, the D.A. presented a picture of the chair where the B.B. gun WAS! Then, the D.A. presented a NOTEBOOK found at my house (5 months before either myself or my co-defendant was a suspect. NO WARRANT). The notebook was presented to show the jury THAT I HAD PAPER! Literally. Because the bank teller said she “noticed” a loose piece of paper in the bank robbers’ bag during the robbery. So, the D.A. presented a NOTEBOOK to say “look, Mr. O’Grosky has a NOTEBOOK.” And no, there wasn’t a MATCH made to link that paper observed by the bank teller to the notebook found in my house. Then the D.A. presented 6 finger prints that were “inconclusive” according to their own EXPERT WITNESS. None of the prints were mine, no DNA, nothing. Yet the D.A. presented them “to show they did their due diligence”. This was an obvious P.A. Rules of Evidence Rules 43 Violation as those finger prints were misleading and confusing as they WEREN’T MINE, so why put them in as exhibits? Because it LOOKS suspicious to a lay person when reviewing all of the circumstantial evidence presented. NONE of these things were objected to.
Then, after the Commonwealth rested and it was our turn to present our defense, my attorney changed plans and advised me to NOT take the stand. He told me that I wouldn’t be needed as we were going to be presenting my alibi, Boggs (the guy who confessed), my character witnesses (3 of them), and exculpatory evidence (the map with drive time, to show that I COULDN’T have been at the bank and made it back to McKeesport in the time presented by the D.A.). So, I took my attorney’s advice and agreed to forego my right to testify. But after I was collogued my attorney RESTED!! I had NO IDEA he was going to rest, without presenting a defense. My attorney did this on his own, WITHOUT my knowledge or permission. In fact, in my attorneys closing (This is in the Transcripts) he said “The first thing you’ll notice is we’re not presenting a defense at this time, normally I like to, but, and this was MY decision not Mr. O’Groskys, but the Commonwealth hasn’t proved beyond a reasonable doubt that my client is guilty. We had 3 or 4 witnesses and evidence, but let’s call it an early weekend. It’s Friday. Again, this is my decision not Mr. O’Groskys. But and the Judge will tell you, the burden of proof is on the Commonwealth, not on us”. He went on, shooting from the hip as he prepared. No notes were used in his closing. And his closing only lasted 5-7 minutes. Then, the D.A. laid out a long, structured prepared closing that lasted 20 minutes.
At 11:30 the jury took its lunch and deliberated. And, like Lens Crafters, they came back in less than an hour. GUILTY, on all counts. Yeah, it was an early weekend for everyone… but my weekend has lasted for 10 to 20 years. That’s what I got. 10-to-20 years. But being that I was on Parole when the bank robbery happened, the Parole Board took back all of my street time (3 years and 10 months) and told me to max it out… First. Meaning, I had to serve 46 months THEN I was allowed to start my 10-to-20-year sentence. My MINIMUM is now June 2030. That means I will have served 15 years until I’m eligible for parole. 15 years for a crime I didn’t commit.
I filed an appeal, through my court appointed attorney, Emily Smarto. But she decided on her own, to send in a generic appeal “Weight of Evidence/SUFFICIENCY OF EVIDENCE”. She didn’t let me have any say. In fact, she NEVER even spoke with me. I asked her to appeal how the Judge ruled to let the D.A. say I was using/selling drugs at my trial and also denied my attorney the right to ask Crusan if she ever accused me of a crime that SHE KNEW I didn’t commit. These rulings adversely affected my defense and SHOULD have been appealed. But they weren’t because my appellate attorney didn’t care. I have since taught myself about the law and P.A. Rules of Court. I’ve filed a PCRA and have been granted an Evidentiary hearing. I filed Ineffective Assistance of Counsel (Numerous claims on different Ineffective Claims), Layered Claim (to include my Appellate Attorneys Ineffectiveness), Cumulative Claim, and a Brady Violation (for the Tacit agreement between the Commonwealth and my co-defendant). I believe a deal existed between the D.A.’s office and my co-defendant to drop all her charges in exchange for her testimony. The state claims that no deal was made, but after she (my co-defendant, Crusan) testified against me all of her drug charges were dropped AND she was never charged with her role in the ARMED ROBBERY of a bank. My Evidentiary hearing has lasted for over 5 DAYS (all bi furcated, with months in between each hearing). During such hearing, I was questioning the old A.D.A. (who is NOW a sitting Judge, Rebecca Turbowski) and got her to admit that they (the D.A.’S office) circumvent Brady Violations by NOT giving a deal UNTIL AFTER the co-defendant testifies. It’s a “wink and a nod” deal. Then, I filed a right to know and got a copy of an e-mail sent from my D.A. (James Lazar) to the Troopers Barracks where the evidence in my case was kept. In the e-mail, Lazar advises the State Police to “destroy all the evidence” in my case. Yep, while I am in a PCRA Phase/Collateral Appeal Phase. The D.A. wanted that evidence destroyed so there would be no evidence of the WARRANTLESS search that was conducted at my home. So, all of the evidence was destroyed only one year after I was found guilty!
My next hearing is on August 4th of 2023. We’re supposed to be calling Boggs to testify (that he DID in fact confess to robbing this bank and that he was and is still willing/available to testify to this) then we may close. But of course, the D.A. is fighting this. Lazar found out that Boggs is disabled and requires a wheel chair. So, he made a motion demanding Boggs physically be at the next hearing to testify. Problem is, Boggs is in prison and the Sheriffs transport vehicle is NOT wheel char accessible. Last time the Sheriffs attempted to get Boggs (he was subpoenaed) they couldn’t bring him due to Boggs being IN a wheel chair. Of course, there are other options for people who can’t physically be present at court to testify, such as video conferences. An option that I requested be permitted to allow Boggs to testify. However, the D.A. told the court that Boggs presence was NEEDED and so the court ruled that Boggs MUST be there to testify, IN PERSON. This is a tactic that the D.A. is using to make it so that Boggs testimony is never heard. Even if Boggs won’t be allowed to give his testimony, I still have the evidence of my alibi witness who was available and willing to testify but was never contacted by my trial attorney Marc Daffner. And 2 witnesses who are willing to testify that Boggs admitted and even bragged about how he robbed the bank with Crusan. Then, I’ll do my closing argument. After all the evidence is heard, the Judge will have to decide on whether or not he believes I was denied a fair trial and if my sentence should be vacated. Side Note: I later found out that Amanda Crusan (my co-defendant/ex-girlfriend who made all these allegations that lead to this miscarriage of justice and wrongful conviction) has had a sexual relationship with her arresting officer Nathaniel Rigotti of the Vandergrift P.D. The reason this is important is because Crusan initially went to Officer Rigotti to make these false accusations about her and I robbing this bank. She didn’t go to the State Police or the D.A. She went to her arresting officer, who she had a sexual relationship with. Apparently Crusan worked with Officer Rigotti on other police investigations as a Confidential Informant (C.I.). He used her to set other people up. Some time later, Rigotti was let go from Vandergrift P.D. and had to find employment else where due to his inappropriate sexual relationship with his C.I.’S.
This miscarriage of justice is a shock to one’s conscience. I have seen that the system can be so corrupted and when it’s noticed that the police and State Troopers errored, mislead and omitted facts, the D.A. actually goes with the falsified reports and helps clean it up by giving Crusan a secret deal to testify. The system is supposed to assure that justice is served, truth is above all. There are safe guards in place to assure each department or branch is doing their job rightly. Instead, in my case, each department; police, D.A.’s office and the trial Judge turned a blind eye to each other’s purposeful errors and omissions to achieve their common goal/interest. Covering up each other misconducts.
I realize this sounds unbelievable, but I have all of the documents to support this. From my discovery to Transcripts to letters and e-mails. I am hopeful that this new judge Scott Mears will stop this and will have the strength to go against his pears (the cops and the D.A.’s office) and vacate my sentence. Freeing me from this miscarriage of Justice. If this can happen to me, it can happen to anyone. I need help shining a light on this, so I’m not just swept under the rug, it’s easy to assume I’m just another prisoner complaining and alleging false accusations. I just ask you to look into this, verify my claims. Review my case. Investigate this. Thank you for taking the time to read this. I would be grateful for any help or advice. You can write me at:
Jeremy B. O’Grosky QJ5451
SCI GREENE
P.O. BOX 33028
St. Petersburg, FL 33733
Sincerely,
Jeremy B. O’Grosky
