Trial delayed for couple accused of looting trust

Nov. 28--An Exeter couple accused of looting a $1 million trust left in their care by late labor leader Tony Kane has been granted a delay in their criminal trial, which was set to begin Dec. 3.

Joel C. Riegel, 77, and Gloria Bartnicki Riegel, 64, cited "health concerns" in asking for their trial to be delayed, Luzerne County Judge Fred Pierantoni explained Wednesday after a status conference in the case.

Prosecutors from the state Attorney General's Office did not object to the delay and Pierantoni subsequently scheduled the trial for May 5 at 10 a.m.

The married couple from Exeter is accused of raiding the Anthony F. Kane Charitable Trust after they were named in Kane's will following his 2001 death.

Kane was a music teacher who headed the teachers union in the Wyoming Valley West School District. The Riegels are former officials with the Pennsylvania State Education Association.

Annual investment proceeds of the trust were to benefit the United Way of Wyoming Valley, which received $142,000 from 2002 through 2006, but the payments stopped after the charity and the Attorney General's Office filed an action in Luzerne County Court seeking a full accounting of the trust's assets.

The state Attorney General's Office alleges the Riegels spent the trust's money on country club expenses, life insurance policies, phone bills, pet care, expenses related to homes they once owned in the Poconos and Florida and other goods and services. They face charges of theft and conspiracy and remain free on bail.

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