A federal judge has rejected a second attempt by a former fraud detective to withdraw his guilty plea to charges connected to the theft of $1.3 million from Butler Health System, saying the assertions that he didn’t understand what he was doing “border on the preposterous.”
U.S. District Judge William Stickman IV said the case against Scott Roskovski will proceed to sentencing next month.
Roskovski, a former district attorney’s office detective in Butler County, and his wife, Stephanie Roskovski, former chief operating officer at Butler Health, stand convicted of stealing the money for their personal use.
Both pleaded guilty in separate hearings last May — Scott Roskovski to filing a false income tax return and submitting a false loan application to a bank and Stephanie Roskovski to mail fraud and filing a false tax return.
Scott Roskovski first tried to withdraw his plea in January. Such attempts are relatively rare in federal court; federal plea hearings are tedious and extensive, with judges asking defendants over and over about their guilt after lengthy descriptions of the crime by prosecutors.
In this case, Roskovski argued that he didn’t make the false loan application statements with the “purpose” of influencing the lender and didn’t “willfully” submit a false tax return. In other words, he said he didn’t act with intent and didn’t realize the government had to prove that he did.
Judge Stickman rejected that notion, saying he knew what he was doing — especially considering that he investigated financial fraud for the DA.
“Of particular note was the court’s finding that Mr. Roskovski’s assertion of innocence rang hollow and it was actually undermined by the admissions he made under oath as well as his unique personal background” as a detective, the judge ruled.
Roskovski tried again with a new motion to withdraw his plea, this time with a new lawyer. But the judge said it’s the same reasoning with the same result.
“His ‘new’ arguments merely put flesh on the bones of the old and ring hollow,” the judge said.
Roskovski had argued that his experience as a detective involved enforcing state statutes but that he misunderstood the complexities of the government’s burden of proof in complex federal fraud prosecutions. Essentially, he argued that he was confused about the burden of proof standard in federal court and said he lacked the necessary intent in committing fraud.
The judge said the motion has no more merit than his first attempt.
“By virtue of Mr. Roskovski’s education, training and experience, he is well aware that the burden of proof — beyond a reasonable doubt — remains the same at a criminal trial in state and federal court,” the judge ruled. “For him to argue that he had any other understanding about the burden of proof in a criminal trial borders on the preposterous.”
What’s more, the judge said, he asked Mr. Roskovski repeatedly about his guilt, as all federal judges do in plea hearings. Most follow a script that rarely varies.
“The court engaged in a lengthy inquiry to ensure that Mr. Roskovski was acting knowingly and voluntarily in pleading guilty,” the judge said. “Mr. Roskovski went on to affirm that he was guilty” of the charges.
Prosecutors said the couple stole money meant for patient care and used it for vacations, home renovations and their 70-acre motocross business, Switchback MX.
Stephanie Roskovski embezzled the funds from 2011 to 2017 by using her corporate credit card for personal expenses that she disguised as business expenses. She also submitted false reimbursement requests and obtained merchant gift cards by claiming they were for business.
In addition to stealing, the couple didn’t report the stolen money on their tax returns. After they were both fired from their jobs, they submitted false loan applications to a bank to refinance the motocross and buy a bulldozer.
S&T Bank extended a $1.1 million loan for the track and $55,000 for the bulldozer based on the false information, including the claim that Stephanie Roskovski was earning $275,000 a year when in fact she was unemployed.
Judge Stickman has scheduled sentencing for both Roskovskis for June 10.
First Published: May 3, 2021, 9:16 p.m.