3 old cases against Unity man linked to woman’s disappearance dismissed
Three pending criminal cases were dismissed against a man state police linked to the 2018 disappearance of a Unity woman.
Westmoreland County Judge Timothy Krieger ruled prosecutors took too long to bring Thomas G. Stanko, 50, to trial in the cases unrelated to the disappearance — two from 2018 and a third from 2017.
“The problem has been with Stanko that he’s indicted in federal court” and can’t be released from their custody until that case is resolved, Peck said.
“It’s the position of the Commonwealth that he was unavailable during this period of time,” Peck said.
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Authorities have until the end of the month to set a trial date on a federal indictment in connection with 17 guns police said were found at a Unity property he owns and a storage unit while authorities were investigating the disappearance of Cassandra Gross.
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In the now-dismissed three criminal cases, local police said he possessed a stolen all-terrain vehicle in 2018, violated terms of a drunken-driving sentence that same year and assaulted someone during a Youngstown bar fight in 2017.
Krieger detailed in his ruling dozens of court dates for each of the three cases and the reason for postponements of the matters. He found Stanko should have been brought to trial by Dec. 5, 2019, in the assault case; Feb. 25, 2020, in the receiving stolen property case and Dec. 10 in the DUI case.
Praying she is found and justice is served.
