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Former Detective Pleads Guilty in Thefts

Sentencing scheduled Sept. 18 in case that diverted $1M from local FOP

By Staff Reports
The Tube City Almanac
June 26, 2025
Posted in: Crime and Police News

A former McKeesport police detective has pleaded guilty to diverting more than $1 million in dues and other funding from a Fraternal Order of Police lodge to support his now-closed bar and restaurant.

Following a negotiated plea agreement with the Allegheny County District Attorney’s office, Joseph A. Osinski, 56, of Haler Heights entered pleas of guilty on Tuesday on charges of theft by unlawful taking, theft by deception, receiving stolen property and dealing in the proceeds of unlawful activities.

Charges of access device fraud, misapplication of entrusted property and an additional account of theft by unlawful taking were withdrawn. Sentencing before Allegheny County Common Pleas Court Judge Jill Rangos is scheduled for Sept. 18.

The charges were filed by the state Attorney General’s Office. Prosecutors allege that Osinski, who served as financial secretary of FOP Lodge 91 in West Homestead from 2012 to April 2024, diverted the organization’s funds to support his bar and restaurant in Christy Park when it faced financial difficulties.

In 2019, prosecutors said, Osinski opened a separate account in the lodge’s name at a McKeesport credit union without the knowledge or approval of other lodge officers. Prosecutors said he then deposited dues checks in that account, which he controlled, and then took large cash withdrawals which he deposited in a separate account at another bank.

In a criminal complaint, prosecutors also allege that Osinski diverted a contribution that was made to the lodge on behalf of two McKeesport police officers who were wounded — one fatally — in a 2023 shooting.

Osinski’s business, Puzzlers Restaurant & Lounge on Walnut Street, closed in July 2024.

City officials said Osinski was placed on leave from the police department when they learned of the allegations against him, and that he subsequently retired before charges were filed against him.

Osinski remains free on $50,000 bond pending sentencing. The charges against him are first-degree felonies. State sentencing guidelines call for a minimum of nine months’ incarceration on each charge for a first-time offender.

Originally published June 26, 2025.

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