Apr 10, 2013 1 min read

I’m the wife of a police officer who recently retired after serving nearly 44 years in law enforcement, so it took me several days to express my disbelief at what I was reading and hearing from the attorney of disgraced former Pittsburgh police chief Nate Harper.

He claimed that his client, who served 35-plus years in law enforcement, was naive about how money and debit cards were to be used.

Are you kidding me? It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that if you transfer money from one place to another and you then use that money for things for which it was not authorized, you may be doing something illegal.

Then the attorney suggested that Harper plead guilty so he can plea-bargain for a lesser punishment. Is Harper above the law? Why not plead guilty and let the chips fall where they may?

My husband made a name for himself as an officer, but it was for all the right reasons because he was doing the job he was paid to do.

Marlene Puchi

McMurray