Dec 31, 2017 2 min read

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A former Charleroi attorney and newspaper publisher pleaded guilty in October to mail fraud for bilking more than $500,000 from a client who suffers from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, funneling some of the money into the accounts of his Mon Valley publication.

Keith A. Bassi, 61, of Jefferson Township, Fayette County is expected to be sentenced in federal court at 9:30 a.m. March 14 before U.S. Judge Anthony J. Schwab. He has paid $269,000 in restitution and agreed to other forfeitures as part of his plea.

Bassi took the money from the client, who has been identified in court records only as N.J.L., putting $110,000 into accounts related to the Monessen-based Mon Valley Independent, which is under group ownership. He also used her money to open a personal life insurance policy and a bank account in his name.

The crime led to Bassi voluntarily surrendering his license to practice law. — Scott Beveridge

10 – Health center goes private

Washington County’s care of the indigent – its mission for 187 years – came to an end Dec. 1, 2017, when the sale of the Washington County Health Center was finalized.

In January 2017, the Washington County commissioners hired a Harrisburg attorney, Mark Stewart, who gave a slide presentation explaining why it wasn’t feasible to keep using taxpayer and other dollars to subsidize care at the 40-year-old, 288-bed county health center, which had been $9 million in the red since 2012. A steady stream of health center employees spoke at commissioners meetings for months on the topic, to no avail.

Stewart represented the county in the sale, which was originally slated to take place in the beginning of October. But Oct. 1 came and went without a transaction. The county transferred operation of the health center to Premier Healthcare LLC of Philadelphia on Oct. 20, for $2.5 million, and the $25.35 sale of the real estate was completed Dec. 1. The new name of the facility is Premier Washington Health Center.

According to Washington County Finance Director Joshua Hatfield, the only expenditures from the proceeds of the sale so far went toward legal and subdivision fees. “An overall plan or use of the money has not yet been determined by the board of commissioners,” he said in late December.