LevittownNow.com’s investigative reporting has been supported in part by funding from In The Know Club members.
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The ongoing federal investigation that appears to have set a focus on Falls Township continued to move forward this week.
LevittownNow.com confirmed through multiple sources that the Pennsbury School District received a request for records Tuesday afternoon as part to the probe. The records overlapped with Falls Township and the police department and come as a grand jury is preparing to meet in Philadelphia.
Last week’s subpoena delivered to Falls Township officials sought documents related to several police officials, including records of disciplinary actions, promotions, outside employment, policies, and more, according to sources.
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Police Chief Nelson Whitney, who was suspended last week, and Lt. Hank Ward, the acting leader of the police department, have both received federal subpoenas.
Whitney revealed through a statement from his attorney last week that he received a federal subpoena.
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No charges have been filed, no indictments handed down, and no accusations of wrongdoing have been made by authorities at this point.
The latest round of requests from investigators follow a 2020 subpoena submitted to Falls Township that sought six years of records, ranging from employment files to land development documents, according to sources.
In 2020, New Jersey-based electrical union International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 269, which does work in parts of Lower Bucks County, was also handed a subpoena for records relating to Falls Township.
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Last week, IBEW Local 269 Business Manager Stephen Aldrich said the subpoena’s request had “no merit,” and the union turned over all the documents.
Credit: Amanda Burg/LevittownNow.com
While the FBI, state, and county investigators have interviewed numerous people with ties to Falls Township and the Pennsbury School District in recent years as part of the probe, it is unclear if other federal subpoenas have been handed out between 2020 and this week.
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This news organization reported in 2020 that authorities were asking about matters related to local government and politics, unions, contractors, political donations, and problems in the Pennsbury School District. The investigation also appeared to have a connection to Montgomery County.
Recently, it was learned that two top U.S. Department of Justice prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania have been assigned to the case.
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Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark B. Dubnoff is among them. He has prosecuted a number of high-profile cases in the region, including a recent one against a Philadelphia City Council member.
Another prosecutor involved in the case is Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Morgan, who is the chief of the office’s corruption and civil rights unit.
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Previously, investigators looked at the Pennsbury School District, and the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office was set to hold a state grand jury in Harrisburg in 2020.
The focus on that state grand jury and the scope of its connection to the federal investigation were not clear.
No charges or state grand jury reports related to the district have become public since the panel was set to meet.
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