LOCK HAVEN - A jury of eight women and six men will will begin listening to evidence beginning Monday at 8 a.m., in the trial of former Clinton County commissioner Adam Coleman, charged with theft and conspiracy last year in the disappearance of funds from a Lock Haven YMCA account and a special Elks grant for children,
The jury members were selected Friday from a prospective panel of over 50 citizens, in proceedings held by Clinton County President Judge J. Michael Williamson.
The chosen panelists were instructed to not read anything or watch anything about the case over the weekend and report to the courthouse at 8 a.m. Monday for the trial.
Judge Williamson said he expected the trial to continue into Tuesday.
Jeremiah Clark, Mr. Coleman and Coleman's mother, Kim Coleman, were charged in the alleged misappropriation of funds from the Lock Haven Area YMCA -Adam Coleman and Clark for stealing the funds, and Mrs. Coleman for attempting to cover up her son's involvement in the crimes.
On hand in courtroom were Adam Coleman and his attorney, Robert Englert and the prosecution team from the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office, comprised of Janelle Eschbach and Clarke Madden.
Mr. Coleman has been charged with one count of theft by unlawful taking, a third-degree felony punishable by up to seven years in prison and a $15,000 fine. He is also charged with one count each of theft by deception and criminal conspiracy, both first-degree misdemeanors that are each punishable by up to five years in prison and $10,000 in fines.
Any remaining pre-trial matters were laid to rest Thursday at a 3 p.m. hearing before Williamson, who reviewed the defense suggestions for jury questioning, explained that he would be posing many of the questions and said another matter could wait until it actually came up in trial.
The question concerned a series of witnesses offered by Englert to bolster the defense theory that Coleman considered the stolen funds a loan between himself and Clark, the former YMCA director, who pleaded guilty earlier this year in connection with the criminal case.
Englert said he planned to call a number of defense witnesses because "(Jeremiah) Clark's scheme caught a lot of people."
Judge Williamson said those witness statements were only material if they occurred prior to the alleged transaction between Coleman and former YMCA Director Clark, and only if Coleman himself took the stand to talk about his belief that the matter was a loan and that he was aware of those other transactions.
Judge Williamson has already ruled to allow Englert to pursue questioning of witnesses based on a theory that Coleman's signature was forged on checks by a YMCA employee who hasn't been charged with any crime.
The other two defendants have already been sentenced in connection with the state Grand Jury investigation and indictments.
Kim Coleman, was sentenced to 20 days to 23 months in prison. She served 20 days.
Clark, 32, of Jersey Shore, pleaded guilty to third-degree felony charges of theft and forgery and the first-degree misdemeanor charge of conspiracy and was sentenced to 11 and a half to 23 months in the Clinton County Correctional Facility, where he is currently serving that sentence.
Mr. Coleman, 32, Lock Haven, remains free on bail pending the outcome of the trial.
According to law enforcement authorities, Clark allegedly schemed to use his official position with the YMCA to misappropriate at least $133,000 in agency funds between 2006 and 2010, allegedly forging the names of YMCA board members on checks and trust fund documents, fabricating receipts and invoices to support those bogus checks and using agency credit cards and funds for a wide variety of personal expenses.
Adam Coleman is accused of conspiring with Clark in some of the thefts, including the fabrication of an invoice for $1,465 in landscaping work paid by the YMCA to Coleman's Landscaping, and emptying $5,300 from a special Elks grant account for an after-school program at the YMCA that never happened.
Kimberly Coleman was accused of conspiring with her son and Clark to fabricate an invoice for landscaping services that was allegedly used to divert $1,465 in YMCA funds to pay Adam Coleman's Country Club bill.
At Friday's session, Williamson read a list of prospective witnesses, asking the jurors if they knew any of them, or if knowing them would prevent the panelists from rendering a fair and impartial verdict.
The list of potential witnesses and/or trial participants:
Robert Englert, Adam Coleman's attorney; Janelle Eschbach and Clark Madden of the Attorney General's Office; D.A. Mike Salisbury; Adam Coleman; Kim Coleman; R. Kirby Conrad, the investigator for AG; Jeremiah Clark; Pamela Bowes, office manager at YMCA; Harlan Dickey property manager at YMCA.
Also, Carl Poff and Leonard Long both associated with the YMCA; Holly Bickel, Clinton Country Club office manager; Bill Wolford, associated with Elks; Marcie Keller a bank teller; Mark Traister YMCA board of directors; Louis Anastas, car dealer and restaurant businessman; Christine Foust, a Second Mile employee from Bellefonte; Aaron McNulty, manager at country club; Richard Johnson of Haywoods on the Green; Mike Fillman of Keystone Bingo; Robin Bubb an employee of Traister Contracting; Robert Reeder of Bonner Sports; Steven Miller of C.L. Miller Garage; Lisa Breslin, Clark's former girlfriend; Craig Russell, Jersey Shore State Bank manager; Amy Weaver and Adam Coleman's ex-wife, Katie.
