Couple enters plea to latest charges
For the second time in a month, a Butler couple accused of embezzling $1.3 million from Butler Health System appeared before a federal judge in Pittsburgh, this time facing an additional five charges in the case mounted against them by the U.S. district attorney.
Scott and Stephanie Roskovski pleaded not guilty Wednesday to additional charges in the federal government's case against them. They appeared for their arraignment in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
On May 23, the couple each received a new count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and avoid paying income taxes, plus four new charges related to filing false income tax returns in every year from 2013 through 2016.
The couple is accused of defrauding the health care system between 2011 and 2017, among other crimes, while Stephanie Roskovski was employed as the chief operating officer for BHS. Scott Roskovski, a former detective in the Butler County District Attorney's Office, was fired in 2018 after supervisors learned of the investigation.
Both of the Roskovskis remained free on $250,000 unsecured bonds. An unsecured bond allows the defendants to keep their money, unless they flee.
If found guilty, each could face a sentence of more than 30 years in prison, a fine of more than $3.1 million between them, or both. Additionally, if the Roskovskis are convicted of mail fraud, money laundering and embezzlement, the government will seek forfeiture of a number of their belongings. The list includes the Switchback MX in Clay Township, their house in Dogwood Court, a Toyota Tundra, a Honda Ridgeline, a Range Rover, and an International 4200 Water Truck.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, the Roskovskis are free to use their money and property as they please at this point, but if they try to sell or get rid of any of the property named in the indictment, the government would prevent them from proceeding.The couple spoke through their lawyers — Michael Pawk representing Scott Roskovski and Michael Comer representing Stephanie Roskovski — when they requested that a jury trial solve the matter. Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolyn J. Bloch, who represents the government in the case, told Magistrate Judge Robert Mitchell that the new charges do not require a review of their bonds.Bloch outlined the new charges to the couple, addressing them individually. When asked if they understood the charges, they both gave a muted assent. She asked them if they wanted the new charges to be read out aloud in their entirety. The defendants' lawyers said no.Bloch told the judge that she estimates a trial would take about three weeks to present all of the evidence. The next court proceeding has not been scheduled.In a previous news release, the U.S. Attorney's Office alleged that the Roskovskis acted together between 2011 and 2017 to defraud the Butler Health System. Stephanie Roskovski joined BHS in 1994 as director of Community Health Planning. She was ultimately appointed as the health system's chief operating officer in 2012 and held the position until being fired in August 2017.Scott Roskovski, who owns Switchback MX, was a detective in the Butler County District Attorney's Office. He was fired last year after 20 years on the job by Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger when his office learned of the investigation.
