AG: Detective Siphoned FOP Funds to Restaurant

Over $1 million diverted to closed Christy Park bar and lounge

By Staff Reports
The Tube City Almanac
September 05, 2024
Posted in: Crime and Police News

BREAKING: This is a developing story and is subject to change.

A former McKeesport police detective diverted more than $1 million in dues and other funding from his Fraternal Order of Police lodge to support his Christy Park bar and restaurant, the state attorney general alleges.

Joseph A. Osinski, 55, of Haler Heights was charged Thursday by state investigators with using money from Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 91 to pay personal expenses as well as business expenses for his Christy Park business, Puzzlers Restaurant & Lounge on Walnut Street.

Puzzlers closed abruptly in July.

Osinski was placed on leave from the police department Friday when the city learned of the allegations, McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko said. He subsequently retired, Cherepko said, and is no longer employed by the police department.

McKeesport police Chief Mark Steele said there is “no concern whatsoever” about any missing funds from the police department.

Osinski is currently free on $50,000 bond pending a preliminary hearing Oct. 9 before Magisterial District Judge Patrick D. Campbell in Munhall. Court documents did not list an attorney for Osinski.

Osinski is charged with theft by unlawful taking, theft by deception, receiving stolen property, dealing the proceeds of illegal activity, access device fraud and misapplication of entrusted property.

Cherepko said that none of the allegations leveled against Osinski arose from his duties or activities as a McKeesport police officer.

Osinski served as financial secretary of Lodge 91 from 2012 to April 2024, according to a criminal complaint. The alleged fraud began in 2019, the attorney general’s office said.

“This defendant was not only a trusted member of law enforcement in his community, he was trusted by his peers and colleagues to handle their dues money in support of the FOP mission,” state Attorney General Michelle Henry said in a prepared statement.

“His abuse of that trust left his fellow officers struggling to keep their lodge afloat and damaged the public’s trust in those working to protect them,” she said. “These charges serve as a reminder that we will seek justice from those who harm our communities, regardless of job or position.”

In addition to FOP dues and other contributions, the AG’s office accused Osinski of misappropriating a portion of the donations that were intended for the families of two McKeesport police officers who were shot in February 2023.

Lodge 91 represents all municipal police officers in Allegheny County outside of the city of Pittsburgh.

The allegations came to light after the union’s board of directors received an anonymous letter questioning the amount of money going into and out of Lodge 91’s bank accounts, the criminal complaint states.

According to the complaint, the lodge’s main expenses include a monthly retainer to its attorney, assessments to the state and national Fraternal Order of Police organizations, taxes and utilities on the lodge hall in West Homestead, and a stipend to the lodge president.

However, the complaint states, the attorney’s retainer has not been paid since June 2023, one of the two assessments to the FOP was not paid in 2023, and the lodge’s president has not received his stipend since September 2023.

According to the complaint, Osinski was removed from his Lodge 91 posts in April 2024 after the lodge elected a new president, Michael Slawianowski, a Leetsdale police sergeant.

The lodge has 1,260 members. Active members paid $540 each in dues in 2023 and $650 in 2024.

Additional income comes from events and fundraisers, the criminal complaint states.

Lodge officials told investigators that there should have been approximately $318,000 in cash on hand for 2023. Instead, according to the complaint, Osinski told lodge members there was approximately $50,000 in the bank at the beginning of 2024; yet bank statements showed only $22,696.06 in two accounts.

Investigators believe there may be additional bank accounts of which the lodge is unaware, according to the complaint, and wrote that Osinski “generally kept the lodge board and other members in the dark about how much money the lodge takes in and pays out.”

“Because the actor was trusted, no one asked him for detailed financial reports or questioned him,” the complaint states.

Osinski has been a police detective for more than 20 years and was at one time a prominent face of the department, speaking to schools and civic organizations about crime prevention and public safety. He also had worked with regional drug task forces as an undercover offier.

In addition, Osinski was an advocate for children with autism through the Joey-O Foundation for Autism Awareness, which he created. The foundation conducted many of its activities at Puzzlers — which opened in 2013 — and held an annual motorcycle charity run.

None of the allegations that have surfaced are connected with Osinski’s work as a police officer, Cherepko said, but are linked to his work on behalf of Lodge 91.

According to an affidavit of probable cause, Osinski told investigators last week that Puzzlers entered financial difficulty as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, where bars and restaurants were prevented from allowing eat-in dining and drinking.

During the pandemic, Osinski was an outspoken opponent of lockdown regulations. Puzzlers was fined $1,000 by the state Liquor Control Board for reopening during the lockdown on two occasions in May 2020.

That same year, Osinski was seriously injured in a motorcycle crash on Route 48, according to published reports from the time. The crash left Osinski with a broken pelvis, vertebrae, knee, hip and shoulder, and he required multiple surgeries, according to published reports.

The criminal complaint accuses Osinski of diverting FOP funds to keep the restaurant in business.

State investigators allege that between March 2019 and April 2024, more than $1 million was diverted from Lodge 91’s accounts — mostly from members’ dues payments — into accounts controlled by Osinski.

Investigators allege that beginning in 2021, Osinski deposited dues checks from FOP Lodge 91 members in an account at a McKeesport credit union, then made large cash withdrawals from the same account.

The criminal complaint further alleges that large cash deposits — in almost identical amounts — were then made in an account in the name of Puzzlers at a different bank.

Lodge 91 members and officers were not aware of the credit union account, which was created by Osinski in March 2019, the affidavit states. The lodge’s official accounts were at a third bank, according to the affidavit.

Osinski told investigators that he concealed his activities from other members of the lodge’s board of directors, including two former board officers, but that in some cases he gave cash from Lodge 91 funds to former FOP members for their own benefit. Those members are now deceased, Osinski said, according to the complaint.

In addition, investigators accused Osinski of using Lodge 91’s credit card to purchase $14,567.50 in items for his own personal use, and using the lodge’s bank account to pay another $10,913.51 in personal expenses, according to the criminal complaint.

The case was investigated by Special Agent Jessica Von Voight and will be prosecuted by Senior Deputy Attorney General Alex Cashman, the attorney general’s office said. All charges are accusations, a spokesperson said, and the defendant is innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Originally published September 05, 2024.

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