Judge says Somerset County DA Jeff Thomas can stay with parents, wear device

A judge has ruled to revoke the bail of suspended Somerset County District Attorney Jeff Thomas, but allow him to remain in his parents' home.

In a two-hour hearing that started at 11 a.m. Friday in a courtroom of the Somerset County Court of Common Pleas, Cambria County Senior Judge Timothy Creany ruled that a condition of the revocation is that Thomas must wear an electronic monitoring device at all times. Somerset County Adult Probation employees said they had the equipment on-hand to install the device before he left the courthouse.

His defense team strongly suggested that if the judge decided to revoke Thomas' bail, he could consider something less than incarceration until trial, such as the electronic monitor, one of several options available to the judge.

The bond revocation hearing was held because of a motion from the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General. Agents of the office said that Thomas was a danger to the community after he was charged this week with harassment and two other summaries for ramming his truck into a vehicle driven by a witness in the sex assault case against Thomas. The incident occurred in the early morning hours of March 31.

What's next for Jeff Thomas?

Thomas must be fitted for the ankle monitor and go over the conditions with probation employees.

Any time he leaves his parents' home, he must get an OK from probation. Probation may scrutinize what and where his movements will be and set up a route he must not deviate from while outside of the house. To change his route would be a probation violation.

Additionally, he is not to have any communication with his wife — who is among those police said he has victimized — unless it is for something such as marriage counseling. Even this contact must be first approved by probation.

What happened at the bond hearing?

During the hearing, two people testified on Thomas' behalf.

Amy Thomas, his wife, said that she did not believe that her husband was dangerous.

Christine Thomas, his mother, testified that she was more than willing to have her son live with her wearing an ankle monitor. She added that she was willing to contact the authorities if he violated any of the conditions that come with that procedure.

The original bail and its conditions were set when Thomas was arraigned on charges related to sexual assault for an incident that occurred in September.

What sex assault charges is Jeff Thomas facing?

Thomas is accused of entering an adult acquaintance's home on the evening of Sept. 18 without permission and remaining in the residence even after being told to leave. Police said he then began to sexually and physically assault the woman.

On Sept. 22, charges of sexual assault, indecent aggravated assault, indecent assault, strangulation, simple assault and criminal trespass were brought against Thomas.

He had been free after making his $5,000 bond in that case. The bond stipulated he was to have no contact with the woman or any person on the witness list by both parties in the case.

What:Here's what's next in the court proceedings against Somerset County DA Jeff Thomas

What other charges were filed against Jeff Thomas?

Thomas was accused of chasing after a vehicle driven by a man who more than likely will be a witness for the prosecution in his sexual assault case. Windber police charged him with summary harassment and traffic citations.

According to the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, the chase covered several Windber Borough streets at approximately 12:30 a.m. before Thomas smashed his truck into the man's vehicle on Graham Avenue, causing significant damage.

The motion filed on behalf of Attorney General Josh Shapiro states that Thomas then exited his vehicle and went over to the man's vehicle and taunted him. A portion of the incident was recorded by police officer dashcam/bodycam.

"The witness was terrified by the entire incident," Patrick J. Schulte and Tomm A. Mutschler, senior deputy attorney generals, wrote in their motion for bail revocation. "(Thomas) has no reason to have any type of contact with the witness and the only connection between the witness and the defendant is the witness' involvement in (his sexual assault case)."

It was this incident that Creany spoke of being determinative in his decision to revoke Thomas's bond.

Thomas' attorneys, Ryan Tutera and Eric Jackson Lurie, of Pittsburgh, pointed out that the incident brought forth only three summary charges — two of them traffic citations — which did not rise to the level of a revocation.

Creany agreed that summary offenses do not rise to a level for revocation, but added that incident "goes much further making out the contention that Mr. Thomas is a danger." He said there was the specific bond violation of no contact with witnesses that occurred in that incident.

An extensive list of witnesses in the sexual assault trial scheduled for September by both the defense and the prosecution was given to Creany. Thomas was aware of those lists, he said.

"He knows who they are," Creany said.

The judge, a former district attorney in Cambria County, saw he understood that this case is what Tutera called "a high profile" one, creating even more difficulty in trial preparation. Access to Thomas to plan strategy for the trial will be needed often, Tutera said.

Because the attorneys are based in the Pittsburgh area, because of the continued COVID restrictions in the Somerset County Jail, incarcerating Thomas as a result of bond revocation would be a hinderance in the case, Tutera said, especially when there are other options.

What are the charges in Cambria County?

Thomas was also arraigned Monday before Cambria County District Judge Rick Varner for an incident that occurred May 15, nearly a year ago.

According to an affidavit of probable-cause, Thomas struck his wife in the head and face area at least 10 times with a closed fist while he was driving and she was riding in a vehicle traveling from Cambria County to Somerset County.

His wife was on a FaceTime call with her sister during the assault, according to the criminal complaint. His wife did not file charges.

The case evolved, however, after state police received a 911 call from the wife's sister April 9 for a domestic disturbance at the Thomas residence in Windber. While investigating this incident, the trooper was told by the sister about a prior assault in May of last year.

The 36-year-old Windber man was charged with misdemeanor counts of simple assault and recklessly endangering another person, plus a summary offense of harassment, for the 2021 incident.

His wife testified for the defense about this case.

She said that she did not report anything involved with those allegations, either to the attorney general's office or anyone in law enforcement.

In fact, she said, she didn't learn about those allegations until she was en route to her husband's arraignment that she was the victim in the case.

"Did a representative of the attorney general's office or the police contact you?" Lurie asked.

"They did not," she responded.

Creany granted an order requested by the attorney general to provide a protection order Thursday. The order basically told both Thomas and his wife to stay away from each other, their homes and places of employment. They are not to communicate with each other even by messaging and social media. Both are to also stay away from possible witnesses for the prosecution in the case.

His preliminary hearing on the charges is scheduled at 1 p.m May 5 before Cambria County District Judge Kevin Price.

Final:Attorney for Somerset District Attorney Jeff Thomas says hearing was 'obviously unnecessary'

How it unfolded

Thomas was elected in 2019. He has been absent from his post since the charges were filed in September. First Assistant District Attorney Molly Metzgar is acting district attorney.

On Oct. 27, the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania listed Thomas' law license as temporarily suspended, but did not name the cause for that action.

The gist:Because of a new law, Somerset County DA Jeff Thomas is no longer receiving a paycheck

A short time later, the Somerset County Commissioners acknowledged his suspension from the role as district attorney, and the county salary board approved halting his paycheck and benefits because of that suspension based on a new state law.

Daily American managing editor Bruce Siwy contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Somerset County DA Jeff Thomas must wear monitor, stay with parents