DeRosa letters keep on coming

By PATRICK E. LITOWITZ
New Castle News

Nicholas DeRosa’s backers and detractors continue their letter campaigns as the retired educator prepares to be sentenced for mortgage fraud.

Federal prosecutors and DeRosa’s defense team submitted 10 letters Friday to U.S. District Judge Gustave Diamond. The New Castle resident will be appear at 10 a.m. Tuesday in Pittsburgh federal court.

In a deal accepted on Oct. 29, 2010, DeRosa pleaded guilty to felony counts of bank fraud, mail fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. As his court date approached, the retired city educator attempted to minimize his role in the scheme that caused Affordable Housing of Lawrence County to default on a $250,000 loan from First Commonwealth Bank.

Family members, friends, city school district administrators, Slippery Rock University officials and other associates offered support to DeRosa through letters.

Publication of the correspondences generated criticism from city residents, who attacked DeRosa and those backing him. The latest letters, including one from a district principal and a former school board member, highlight DeRosa’s divisive nature.

Mark Elisco, principal of the George Washington Intermediate Elementary, said he worked with DeRosa as an educator and on city council.

“Without question, Nick has been one of the most influential forces for the common good in my professional life,” he wrote on personal stationery.

“I learned from Nick how to squeeze dollars out of tight municipal budgets for low-income budgets to use for recreational facilities for kids to use as athletics, arts and crafts, and free lunches throughout many summers.

In her letter to prosecutors, former board member Andrea Przybylski turned in a state audit of school operations, dated July 2003.

The state Department of the Auditor General’s report focused on DeRosa’s travel practices, financial interests, reimbursements and food purchases made from the district.

“DeRosa’s actions in the HUD scandal were not a result in a lapse of judgment, but a pattern of behavior which included abuses of his position, as assistant superintendent, at the cost of taxpayers and students,” she wrote.

“As a former board member, I witnessed his significant influence in a system plagued by nepotism, favoritism and questionable practices.”

Edward L. Van Dusen, another city resident called for jail time.

“People get sent to jail for stealing $50 from Walmart or Uni-Mart, usually because they are poor or need drug money,” he wrote. “Here we have an intelligent, well-paid college graduate who does not have to steal to put food on his table conspire to steal from the U.S. government.”

In her support of DeRosa, city resident Amy DiMuccio rejected a New Castle News editorial that suggested people backing the former educator didn’t represent the views of most city and county residents.

“(What) I don’t understand is why the New Castle News felt compelled to print articles that question the motives of those who support Mr. DeRosa and encourage people to write to (the U.S. Attorney) and give you “ammunition” to use against Mr. DeRosa.”

An 86-year-old woman from DeRosa’s Croton neighborhood expressed her anger with his supporters.

“We’re from a little town in New Castle, Pa., or ‘Little Italy,’" she wrote. “With Mr. DeRosa … if you are Italian you are ‘in.’ Many people (if you were Italian and especially if you had the Dolly Parton look) got jobs with his help.

“No doubt the judge will rule in his favor and he will avoid jail time and receive probation only.”