Mar 29, 2021 5 min read

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A grand jury empaneled early last year to root out contraband flowing into the Fayette County Prison has branched out into several “major investigations” into corruption across the county, District Attorney Rich Bower said Friday.

Bower announced 47 charges against various people – mostly inmates or associates attempting to bring suboxone into the jail – but also against a couple accused of stealing more than $20,000 in COVID-19 relief funds and a school police officer who allegedly assaulted a student and secretly recorded conversations with a school official.

While explaining the newest charges returned by the grand jury, Bower said the members agreed to extend their service another six months until June as they’ve opened four investigations that don’t involve the prison, and several others that are in the preliminary stages.

“We don’t care who you are,” Bower said. “If you’re in the middle of corruption … we’re not afraid to come after you.”

So far, 117 people have been charged by the grand jury since it began last February, and Bower expects it will be expanding the scope of its investigation in the coming months.

“We’re far from being finished,” said Bower, who laid out a slew of new charges Friday.

Megan Jean Simms, 31, of Uniontown, and Daniel V. Voithoffer, 31, of Republic, are accused of using Simms’ position at the nonprofit Fayette County Community Action Agency to falsify documents intended to help low-income people with rent payments during the coronavirus pandemic. Investigators said the couple doctored records in order to direct $20,675 in federal COVID-19 stimulus rent relief to themselves from last March until November.

The organization performed an audit at the end of the year and realized the discrepancy in funds, Bower said.

“There are amazing things these people did thinking no one would catch them,” Bower said.

Bower said Simms was working as a court employee as of Friday morning before the charges were filed. Both face nearly 100 charges, which include theft, fraud, identity theft conspiracy and criminal use of a communications device. Both were arraigned Friday morning by Magisterial District Judge Michael Metros and released on $35,000 unsecured bond.

Elsewhere, William T. Shipley Sr., a deputy tax assessor, was accused of doctoring the county’s tax assessment website to include “vulgar and profane” names on parcels, investigators said. Shipley, 61, of Uniontown, manipulated the software programs on his county-issued computer to edit the website in late 2017, police said, but the alterations were not noticed for 19 months. Investigators said Shipley admitted to the actions when he was confronted by Chief Assessor Harry Brownfield Jr.

“It was an absolutely ridiculous thing to have been done,” Bower said.

Also charged was James Edward Shaw Sr., 54, of Mount Pleasant, who allegedly assaulted a 17-year-old vo-tech student at Connellsville Area High School. Investigators said Shaw, who was acting police chief in South Connellsville, was working as the district’s resource office Oct. 16 when he saw the student vaping and pushed the boy to the ground, nearly causing him to strike his head against the curb.

“It was over vaping,” Bower said. “They knew who he was. They should’ve just reported it to the principal. One thing led to another.”

Bower said Shaw also accused the boy of “resisting arrest” even though Shaw has no legal authority as a school resource officer to arrest anyone on school grounds. During discussions with Shaw, the boy, his mother and the school’s vice principal, one of the people in the meeting realized Shaw was secretly recording their conversations with his cellphone, which is illegal in Pennsylvania.

While investigating Shaw, county detectives found other records, including one inside the South Connellsville Borough Building, and in a private residence with two other people. Shaw was charged last month over similar accusations while working as a police officer in South Greensburg.

Macvellan James Hinton, 58, of Connellsville, was charged with selling crack, heroin and cocaine to undercover officers on multiple occasions over the fall and winter.

But the vast majority of the charges involved inmates, their friends and relatives or corrections offices.

Susann Sines, 47, of Hopwood, was working at the jail as a corrections officer when coworkers noticed her touching their food. Surveillance video later showed her touching, licking, eating and putting her saliva-covered fingers on other guards’ lunches on multiple occasions from March 2 to 15, according to court documents. Bower said several of the other guards are getting tested to see if they were infected by various diseases from Sines.

“It may sound comical. It absolutely is not,” Bower said. “This is not something someone should be doing. … This is pretty sickening.”

Various other people were charged with attempting to move contraband into the jail or receive it, or deposit in in Uniontown Hospital before inmate medical trips. Many people were accused of attempting to smuggle suboxone into the jail, either through clothing or other personal items.

With a new warden in place and a new facility in the works, county officials are hopeful the worst of the infractions are behind them. Bower said they’ve already noticed a drop in contraband since the grand jury began.