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Parties settle civil issues in drug forfeiture case

3 min read
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The office of the state attorney general split a drug forfeiture case totaling more than a half-million dollars, according to a settlement reached recently in Washington County Court.

Giving up something as a penalty for wrongdoing is the legal definition of forfeiture, and Tyler Hoberman, 31, of Somerset Township, according to court documents, agreed to give up $2.4 million when he pleaded guilty in 2017 to trafficking marijuana from the state of California.

The forfeiture was related to charges filed against Hoberman on Aug. 28, 2015. Judge Gary Gilman placed him in the Intermediate Punishment Program for 23 months and required him to wear an electronic monitor to confine him to his home for the first six months.

Jennifer Hoberman, 32, filed with the court a motion stating she should not have been financially penalized under her husband’s forfeiture agreement. The document refers to the Hobermans experiencing “marital difficulties” in summer 2018.

Jennifer Hoberman claimed she was due more than $500,000.

At a hearing last year, Keri Bozich, a private investigator who formerly performed criminal investigations as an Internal Revenue Service employee, was hired by Jennifer Hoberman’s attorney, David J. Berardinelli.

Bozich testified in court about Jennifer Hoberman’s finances from the time of her husband’s plea deal, outlining transactions involving vehicles and real estate.

She said she saw no suspicious cash deposits or repeated cash deposits that would indicate money laundering.

Assistant Attorney General Margaret Ross of the asset forfeiture and money laundering section, disagreed, inquiring about the source of money prior to the plea deal, including a $500,000 check from First Choice Home Improvements, written to Tyler Hoberman with the memo reading “personal.”

First Choice was a house-flipping enterprise, buying properties and renovating them for profit, but, at a hearing in 2019, an examination of its finances showed no transactions such as payroll, according to prosecutors.

Gilman, in an October 2019 decision, decided that the attorney general’s office had proven its case “by a preponderance of the evidence.” In late June, the matter came to a close when Gilman’s office filed a settlement the parties presented.

As part of the settlement, attorney Megan Temple, who represented Tyler Hoberman, is to receive $75,000.

The attorney general’s office will receive $213,224, and an identical amount will be split equally and paid separately to the Hobermans.

A 2019 drug trafficking case is pending in Washington County Court against the Hobermans and Jennifer Hoberman’s father, John F. Kusajtys, 64, of Pittsburgh.

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