Pubdate: Thu, 02 Mar 2000 Source: Tribune Review (PA) Copyright: 2000 Tribune-Review Publishing Co. Contact: http://triblive.com/ Author: Tricia Ritchie Note: Tricia Ritchie is a staff writer at the Valley News Dispatch in Tarentum. EX-DISTRICT JUSTICE FACES SHOPLIFTING CHARGES IN N.J. Gigi Sullivan, a former Springdale district justice charged in a major bribery and drug case, is wanted on a federal warrant that charges her with shoplifting from a military store at Fort Dix, N.J., officials said. Sullivan, 38, of Maple Avenue, is accused of taking $76.13 worth of items July 17, said Maj. John Giovannelli, special assistant U.S. attorney and chief prosecutor at Fort Dix. Sullivan's attorneys from Pittsburgh - Patrick Thomassey and Charles Porter Jr. - didn't return calls for comment Wednesday. Sullivan also couldn't be reached for comment. She is free on a $10,000 recognizance bond on charges developed from a state grand-jury probe. He is accused of corruption in office, bribery, forgery, theft and drug charges. She and 20 others were indicted Oct. 22. Sullivan also is accused of stealing boots and clothing worth $115 from a Value City Department Store in Harrison Township, according to a private complaint that was filed with District Justice Carolyn Bengel. The alleged theft occurred Feb. 13. Bengel recused herself from the case. In the New Jersey case, Sullivan and her parents were on the base when her father signed her into Fort Dix/McGuire Post/Base exchange, Giovannelli said. Her father, Terrance Sullivan, is a retired Army sergeant major. A security officer watched Sullivan place a watch on her wrist, pick up two pairs of jeans and leave the store, Giovannelli said. Her parents' whereabouts when the alleged theft occurred was not known. Sullivan was stopped outside the store by a security officer, authorities said. "Her parents said: `This has to be a mistake. She is in the court system in Pennsylvania,'" Giovannelli said. At the time of the alleged incident, Sullivan was a district justice running for re-election. She lost her seat in November. The security officer took Sullivan to a room by herself where the officer found other items, including a travel planner and makeup, authorities said. Sullivan contacted base authorities about two weeks later. "She said to the investigator that it wasn't her but her sister," Giovannelli said. "The investigator told her that her attorney could come view the surveillance tape. The conversation ended there." Sullivan was to be arraigned Oct. 21 on the base but failed to appear. Thomassey asked New Jersey attorney Joseph Logan to appear on her behalf and to request that no warrant be issued because she was in rehabilitation, Giovannelli said. U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan D. Davis denied the request and signed the warrant. In the state indictment, Sullivan is accused of tipping off drug dealer Donald Geraci, 37, of Hamil Road, Penn Hills, in exchange for cocaine and heroin, police said. Sullivan told Geraci when authorities were going to search his former businesses in Penn Hills, Verona and Cheswick and when there was a warrant out for his arrest, police said. Sullivan was not arrested Oct. 22 because Thomassey told state authorities that she was in a rehabilitation facility in the eastern side of the state for an addiction to painkillers. An agreement was made for Sullivan to voluntarily surrender to state authorities on the grand-jury charges. The federal judge will not have U.S. marshals arrest Sullivan on the federal charge. Officials, instead, will set up a date when Sullivan voluntarily will surrender at the base after her formal arraignment March 23 on the state charges, Giovannelli said. Tricia Ritchie is a staff writer at the Valley News Dispatch in Tarentum. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D