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A federal grand jury in Philadelphia has heard testimony from several top former and current Falls Township officials, including Bucks County Commissioner Bob Harvie, the former longtime chairman of the township supervisors.
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LevittownNow.com has confirmed Harvie, Supervisor Brian Galloway, former Supervisor Jeff Rocco, and former Township Manager Peter Gray have testified before the grand jury. Sources with knowledge of the matter said others have testified, but this news organization has been unable to confirm those names to the standard required for publication.
Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
Jeff Dence, the current chairperson of the Falls Township Board of Supervisors, did not comment on the news or whether he has been called to testify. He took the chairperson seat after Harvie.
Harvie, the highest-ranking elected official known to have testified, declined comment on the matter Tuesday. Last year before the grand jury convened and he was subpoenaed to testify, Harvie said on the record that he was unsure the details of the investigation.
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Chief of Police Nelson Whitney, who returned to work Monday after being placed on paid leave since spring, previously issued a statement confirming he had received a federal grand jury subpoena to testify.
When asked recently if he testified, Whitney said his date is being rescheduled and he expects to “testify as a witness for the federal government.”
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All of the Falls Township Board of Supervisors and Gray either declined to comment or did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication. Attorneys rumored to be connected to some of the officials did not wish to comment, one citing the ongoing federal investigation.
No charges have been filed, no indictments handed down, and no accusations of wrongdoing have been made by authorities at this point. Being called to testify before a grand jury does not confirm any involvement of potential crimes and is part of the investigative process in the federal system.
Federal law enforcement and prosecutors, as policy, do not comment about ongoing investigations. Amid a grand jury, they are unable to break grand jury secrecy to comment.
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Sources have confirmed the grand jury was tasked with the Falls Township matter in the final months of 2021 and continued to take testimony through this summer. The grand jury has been meeting at the Robert N. C. Nix Sr. Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse at the corner of 9th and Market streets in Philadelphia.
Prior to the grand jury, the investigation had been ongoing for years and is being led by the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice. The Bucks County Detectives, Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, and Pennsylvania State Police have been involved in aspects of it.
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Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark B. Dubnoff, of U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, has been assigned to the case, according to court records seen by this news organization. Dubnoff has prosecuted a number of high-profile cases in the region.
Sources with knowledge of the investigation said FBI special agents and prosecutors are in possession of a significant number of documents that went through former township manager Gray’s office. Gray was the township’s top administrator until his sudden resignation in 2020. He now works in New Hope Borough.
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Gray spoke with investigators as the probe expanded and has cooperated, sources said.
Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
Harvie, a Democrat who was sworn in as a county commissioner in 2020, was first elected to the Falls Township Board of Supervisors in 2003. The history teacher-turned-politician served as chairperson from 2008 leading up to his resignation to take his current full-time county role.
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Harvie’s testimony would be of interest as he was the head of the supervisors when authorities started digging around. The other officials were also serving during the same period.
Harvie is the chairperson of the Bucks County Commissioners and has proven himself a quick-rising star in county politics. He has centered his time in office as being based on a commitment to public service and he is often well-regarded among Democratic and Republican officials.
As previously reported, the township was served in 2020 with a subpoena as part of the investigation. Federal authorities were seeking six years of records. Investigators wanted documents ranging from employment files to land development documents.
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A subpoena for records related to Falls Township was served around the same time in 2020 at the office of New Jersey-based electrical union International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 269, which does work in parts of Lower Bucks County.
IBEW Local 269 Business Manager Stephen Aldrich said earlier this year the request had “no merit,” but the union turned over the requested documents.
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In July 2020, LevittownNow.com broke the news FBI special agents, state, and county authorities interviewed several people close to Falls Township and the Pennsbury School District. Several people said investigators asked them about matters related to local government and politics, unions, contractors, political donations, and problems in the Pennsbury School District. The investigation also has apparent ties to Montgomery County.
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The part of the investigation that involved the school district appeared to have cooled after the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office was set to hold a state grand jury in Harrisburg in 2020.
In April 2022, federal agents delivered another subpoena to the township and requested records from the Pennsbury School District. The investigators wanted information related to several police officials, including records of disciplinary actions, promotions, outside employment, policies, and more.
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