March 3, 2016

TOWN

AND

19

COUNTRY

Jury Trial for Embattled Douglass Township Supervisor Scheduled For Next Month
By Bradley Schlegel
Correspondent

Frederick W. Ziegler, the

embattled Douglass Township supervisor facing criminal
charges, will have his day in
court next month in Norristown.
A jury trial against Ziegler in
the Montgomery County Court
of Common Pleas is scheduled
to commence on Monday, April
4 at 9 a.m. in Courtroom 4, according to information posted
on The Unified Judicial System
of Pennsylvania Web Portal.
Jury selection will begin that
day, according to Vincent DiFabio, the Paoli attorney defending
Ziegler, 63. Judge Gary S. Silow
will officiate the trial.
I am getting ready to go to
court, DiFabio said.
The defendant is accused
of stealing municipal property
for personal use, as well as intimidating witnesses, forging
a subpoena and making false
statements to law enforcement
officials.
The former police chief in
Douglass Township who previously workedas an investigator
for the Montgomery Countys
Extradition Unit, Ziegler will
face charges of theft by unlawful
taking, receiving stolen property, intimidation and retaliation
against witnesses, forgery, unsworn falsification to authorities,
tampering with public records
obstruction of administrative
law and conflict of interest from
September 2012 to the end of
2014.
In January, Silow granted
a motion argued by Michelle
Laucella a deputy with the
Pennsylvania Attorney Generals
office prosecuting the case to
consolidate two sets of charges
in the trial.
DiFabio argued unsuccessfully to keep the charges separate. He said the litigation of a
number of pre-trial motions has
delayed the start of the trial. According to the defense attorney,
one issue included his filing of
a Habeas Corpus Petition a
motion to dismiss some or all of
the charges against Ziegler on
July 7, 2015.
Wendy Demchick-Alloy a
county common pleas judge issued an order denying the petition, according to information
posted on the judicial website.

According to law enforcement officials, Ziegler stole plywood, a chainsaw and a propane
tank, and illegally utilized a municipal gas card for his personal
vehicle between August of 2012
and November of 2013.
Four months after filing
the initial charges, authorities rearrested the elected official on charges of the unlawful use of a Montgomery
County Court subpoena and
attempted intimidation of Douglass Township Manage Pete
Hiryak, a witness in the initial
case against him.
According to law enforcement officials, Ziegler initially
stole plywood, a chainsaw, a
propane tank and illegally utilized a municipal gas card for
his personal vehicle between
August of 2012 and November
of 2013.
At a preliminary hearing last April, DiFabio argued
unsuccessfully that his client
lawfully borrowed the new
chainsaw which he broke
and replaced approximately 18
months later to clear trees on
his property related to a drainage problem created several
years ago by municipal officials.
T h e d e fe ns e attor n e y
claimed that since township
officials never asked his client
to reimburse the municipality
for four unauthorized fuel purchases, authorities cannot prove
an intent to deprive.
According to DiFabio,
Ziegler gave Hiryak a blank
check to cover the cost of the
plywood on Nov. 20, 2013 the
same day a group of township
officials met with Montgomery
County detectives to discuss the
situation.
During the preliminary
hearing before Collegeville
District Judge Cathleen Kelly
Rebar, Hiryak testified that he
never filled in an amount on the
check. Flannery called the check
issuance self serving, just like
everything else Mr. Ziegler has
done in this case.
Mike Heydt, Douglass
Townships road master, testified
that Ziegler took the 100-gallon
propane tank paid for with
township funds saying that he
wanted to utilize it at his hunting
cabin in New York.
The supervisor replaced the

tank with two smaller tanks, according to Heydt.

Law enforcement officials
filed the initial set of charges
against Ziegler in September of
2014.
In January of 2015, authorities charged Ziegler a former
police chief in Douglass Township who also worked as an
investigator for theMontgomery
Countys Extradition Unit of
the unlawful use of a Montgomery County Court subpoena
and attempted intimidation of
Hiryak, a witness in the initial
case against him.
Less than a month after
the September 2 arrest, Ziegler,

a c c omp an i e d by sup e r v i sors Chairman John Stasik,

Jr., demanded an impromptu
meeting withHiryakat the township building, according to court
papers.
In the meeting, Ziegler announced he was conducting his
own investigation, and that the
supervisor began to question
the manager about his personal
and professional life, authorities
claim. With two out of three
supervisors present,Hiryakfelt
compelled to answer the questions, the document states.
On Oct. 1, Ziegler again returned to the township building
at 1320 East Philadelphia Ave.

and demanded another meeting withHiryak. The supervisor

wanted to discuss allegations of
Ziegler stealing shotguns from
the Douglass Township Police
Department and buying a rifle
atPachellaArms without paying
for it, according to the affidavit.
It st ates t hat Z ieg ler
showed Hiryak a copy of the
allegedly forged subpoena and
receipts from the gun dealer,
along with a copy of the report
he obtained from the Boyertown
police.
Hir yak told authorizes
he felt uncomfortable, cautious, and on guard speaking to
Ziegler on Oct. 1.