Former Detective Sentenced in FOP Fraud

Mayor: Ex-McKeesport police officer will lose his pension

By Staff Reports
The Tube City Almanac
November 17, 2025
Posted in: Crime and Police News

A former city police detective who pleaded guilty to defrauding his lodge out of more than $1 million has been sentenced to incarceration and ordered to pay restitution.

Joseph A. Osinski, 56, of Haler Heights was sentenced Monday to nine to 18 months incarceration, followed by three years of probation. He also was ordered to pay $967,160 in restitution to Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 91 in West Homestead.

The sentence was imposed by Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Jill Rangos.

In addition, Osinski has been notified by McKeesport’s pension board attorney that he will not be eligible for his police pension, Mayor Michael Cherepko told Tube City Almanac.

State law allows public pension funds to deny benefits to public officials or employees if “found guilty of a crime related to public office or public employment.” The decision may be appealed in court. 

Osinski had been a police officer for more than 20 years prior to his abrupt retirement on the eve of charges being filed by state investigators in connection with the fraud.

Prosecutors alleged that while serving as financial secretary of FOP Lodge 91 from 2019 to April 2024, Osinski diverted the organization’s funds to support his business, Puzzlers Bar & Restaurant in Christy Park, when it faced financial difficulties following the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020.

An advocate for children with autism, Osinski had created Puzzlers as a place where people on the autism spectrum could get meaningful work and earn a living. The restaurant closed last year in the wake of Osinski’s indictment.

Investigators alleged that Osinski created a bank account at a McKeesport credit union without the knowledge of other Lodge 91 officers and deposited dues payments, then made cash withdrawals which he deposited in his own account at a separate bank.

They also 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.

Osinski also allegedly diverted money that was donated to help the families of slain McKeesport police Sean Sluganski and wounded police Officer Charles Thomas Jr., prosecutors said.

In an agreement negotiated with the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office, Osinski pleaded guilty to theft by unlawful taking, theft by deception, receiving stolen property and dealing in the proceeds of unlawful activities.

The case was prosecuted by the state Attorney General’s Office.

“This trusted member of law enforcement betrayed public trust and trust among his peers, for years, by diverting nearly a million dollars in lodge funds for his personal use,” Attorney General Dave Sunday said Monday.

“This theft was particularly egregious as in one instance he stole donations that were to benefit a memorial fund for a fallen officer,” Sunday said. “The defendant’s repeated betrayal devastated the lodge’s viability and also left an indelible mark on hard-working law enforcement across the Commonwealth.”

Osinski was one of three people with access to the lodge’s bank account, according to the attorney general’s office. The others were not implicated in the crime.

In January 2024, an anonymous letter questioning the lodge’s financial status was sent to the FOP board members, prosecutors said.

Prior to that, other ranking members noticed that a lodge credit card was being used to purchase alcohol, hotels and other items that did not appear to be for the benefit of the lodge, Sunday said.

The case was prosecuted by Senior Deputy Attorney General Alex Cashman, Sunday said.

According to the Tribune-Review, Osinski is expected to serve his sentence in alternative housing with work release. The Trib reported that Osinski declined comment following the sentencing hearing, but that he has been delivering newspapers since the closure of the restaurant.

Two lodge officers who testified at the sentencing hearing on behalf of prosecutors said that Osinski breached the public trust and that he should have been sentenced to prison, not alternative housing, according to the Trib.

A message left by Tube City Almanac for Lodge 91 was not immediately returned.

Meanwhile, Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board records indicate that the liquor license for Puzzlers is being transferred to Steven H. Smith Sr. of East Brady, Clarion County, and a Facebook page for “Smitty’s Place” has been launched saying the restaurant will re-open as a “go-to music-themed neighborhood bar.”

Originally published November 17, 2025.

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