Sunoco Pipeline Constables Won't Elude Bribery Charges: Judge

WEST CHESTER, PA — Two pipeline constables charged last year with bribery and official oppression attempted to have those charges dropped, but a Chester County judge last week said no.

Michael Robel, 58, of Shamokin, a constable in Northumberland County, and Kareem Johnson, 47, a Coatesville resident and constable in Chester County were charged in August 2019 with official oppression, Ethics Act violations, and bribery.

The defendants have argued that they are breaking no law by serving as constables for private companies, and that no laws were broken in the course of their employment as pipeline security guards in West Whiteland Township.

However, because Robel and Johnson waived their right to challenge charges at a preliminary hearing, Chester County Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Sommer decided charges cannot be dismissed, and that a trial must be held, because no preliminary hearing means no evidence has yet been presented to the court.

The absence of a prelimary hearing transcript is an absence of evidence—either for or against the defendants—so the court cannot make a determination to drop charges as asked, was the deputy district attorney's reasoning.

Constables are elected officials responsible for preserving the peace at polling places and making arrests in limited circumstances. The charges against Johnson and Robel say they identified themselves as law enforcement as they turned away the public from a pipeline drilling accident that occurred on a homeowner's property in the area of Lisa Drive in West Whiteland Township, according to the District Attorney's Office.

The two state constables were charged on Aug. 8, 2019 with improperly using their official positions while working as private security guards along the controversial Mariner East Pipeline project will have to face trial on those charges after their attempt to have the cases against them thrown out failed.

Patch stories from 2019 and 2020 on the Mariner East pipeline projects can be accessed here:

• DEP Cites Sunoco for Spills, Sinkholes, Groundwater Release
• Sunoco's Armed Guards Turn Back Public At Pipeline Sinkhole: DA
• New Sinkhole Opens Up Along Mariner East 1 In Chester County
• Pipeline Worker's Comments To Chester Co. Resident Investigated
• New Legislation Aims To Improve Pipeline Safety Near Schools
• Criminal Investigation Opened Into Sunoco, Chester Co. Pipelines
• Funded By Sunoco Fine, Chesco Gets $1.8 Million For Conservation
• Sunoco Fined $12.6 Million For Mariner East 2 Violations
• Battle Against Sunoco Pipeline Is David v. Goliath, Lawmaker Says