Critic of Kennedy School Alumnus Arrested for Embezzlement

Braddock, Pennsylvania, borough manager Ella Jones has been a vocal critic of the town's mayor, John Fetterman, who was profiled in Harvard Magazine.

A critic of Braddock, Pennsylvania, mayor John Fetterman, M.P.P. ’99—profiled in the September-October 2010, magazinehas been arrested for allegedly stealing about $176,000 from the town. Borough manager Ella Jones, who has been one of Fetterman's harshest critics, was arrested on August 19 following an investigation by the Allegheny County district attorney's office. Jones, who has worked directly with the town council since 2000, was subsequently suspended from her job without pay. She pleaded not guilty to the charges.

According to the district attorney's office and a report in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jones was charged with "three counts of forgery and three counts of theft by unlawful taking. She is accused of forging the names of council members on 153 borough checks written to herself, totaling $170,428, about 12 percent of the borough's budget. She also is accused of misappropriating nine borough checks made out to Orchard Bank worth about $5,390 and making five online payments toward her personal credit card bill using borough funds, according to an affidavit." Jones has said she had the council's approval to write the checks.

According to the Pennsylvania Borough Council Handbook, Fetterman's duties as mayor do not include oversight of, or voting on, budgetary or financial matters or monitoring town check-writing or supervising Jones; this is strictly the council's purview.  

 

 

Sub topics

You might also like

Two Momentous Faculty Retirements

Arthur Kleinman and Harry Lewis depart the classroom.

Five Questions with Cass R. Sunstein

The Harvard Law professor and constitutional scholar on what Star Wars can tell us about today’s Supreme Court

Harvard Releases Antisemitism and Anti-Muslim Task Force Reports

University publishes findings from thorough examinations of campus conditions.

Most popular

The New Gender Gaps

What to do as men and boys fall behind

Harvard Releases Antisemitism and Anti-Muslim Task Force Reports

University publishes findings from thorough examinations of campus conditions.

Rebecca Henderson: Does Capitalism Need to be Reimagined?

How to reform capitalism to confront climate change and extreme inequality, with economist and McArthur University Professor Rebecca Henderson

Explore More From Current Issue

The Trump Administration's Impact on Higher Education

Unprecedented federal actions against research funding, diversity, speech, and more

89664

Jessica Shand—Math and Music at Harvard

Jessica Shand blends math and music.

89677

Paper Peepshows at Harvard's Baker Library

How “paper peepshows” brought distant realms to life

89684