HARRISBURG — Attorney General Dave Sunday announced that former Greene County District Attorney, David Russo, was convicted Friday of official oppression for conduct while he was in office.
A Fayette County Senior Judge returned a verdict following three days of testimony regarding Russo’s misuse of his office to have emergency “Stop the Bleed” kits seized from county ambulances. That action took the emergency kits out of service.
Russo will be sentenced Dec. 10 on the charge. He has been free on bail.
“This defendant took an oath to serve and protect citizens of Greene County as its highest-ranking law enforcement official, but instead abused that power to settle personal feuds,” Attorney General Sunday said. “By having these kits illegally seized, the defendant left emergency responders with fewer tools to help residents. This prosecution and verdict show that no one is above the law.”
Specifically, Russo had a detective who worked for the District Attorney’s Office obtain a search warrant without valid probable cause to seize the kits, which were designed for mass casualty events. Multiple kits were taken out of active service ambulances and locked up in the District Attorney’s Office.
The case was prosecuted by Senior Deputy Attorneys General Heather Serrano and Aaron McKendry.
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