Sanguedolce makes first budget presentation as DA

Fresh off his win as the top vote-getter in Luzerne County races, District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce briefed council on work performed by his office this week as part of his first budget presentation.

Among the highlights was an update on the new Auto Theft Task Force, which is headed by Brian Serafinko and fully funded by a grant from the auto insurance industry to investigate any crimes involving auto theft.

Hired in September, Serafinko has already recovered two stolen vehicles valued at a combined $250,000 — a Range Rover and Dodge Hellcat — that had ended up in the hands of gang members, Sanguedolce told council.

Serafinko is working with law enforcement in Wilkes-Barre, where three vehicles were stolen in the last five days, the DA said. In addition, Kingston has seen an uptick in auto thefts, he said.

Sanguedolce noted Serafinko is highly qualified for the position as a retired state police sergeant who had been assigned to supervise auto theft investigations throughout eastern Pennsylvania.

The office’s county Drug Task Force, which is fully funded by money seized from drug traffickers, has opened 318 cases and made 116 arrests this year so far, he said. There were 253 cases initiated and 125 arrests in 2020.

A “staggering amount” of drugs have been seized by this task force, he said. Fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, is currently the most dominant drug seized, although officers are seeing a resurgence in methamphetamine, he said.

In addition to 36 pounds of marijuana, the following grams of these drugs were collected through task force investigations this year to date, according to Sanguedolce: fentanyl, 1,706; heroin with or without fentanyl, 653; hallucinogens, 1,044; cocaine, 465; crack, 727 and 3.3 ounces; and methamphetamine, 1,501.

The task force also seized 33 firearms in 2020 and 56 this year to date, he reported.

Sanguedolce said his office is finding a lot of “straw purchases” in which people legally authorized to possess guns are giving them to those who are not. These cases are heavily prosecuted and not eligible for diversionary adjudication programs, he said.

The DA’s office assumed control of the task force from the state Attorney General’s Office in 2016. More than 280 officers from approximately 40 law enforcement agencies are now involved in the task force.

Equipment

Sanguedolce presented footage from a drone the office was able to fully purchase with a state grant.

He got the idea watching the effectiveness of a Pennsylvania State Police drone capturing live activity during a hostage case in Newport Township.

The drone will be particularly helpful in searches of remote areas, he said.

His sample shots revealed the drone’s ability to zoom in about five miles. While hovering above the county courthouse in Wilkes-Barre, it captured images from the parking lot and front door of a restaurant above the Wyoming Valley Mall in Wilkes-Barre Township.

Five DA staffers are now licensed to operate the drone, he said.

He also highlighted a new polycom conference room allowing virtual communication funded by a COVID-19 recovery grant and a new inkless electronic fingerprint machine that allows more advanced criminal record checks.

Budget

Sanguedolce’s proposed 2022 budget is $5.27 million, which is an increase of $509,000 from this year’s allocation.

He attributed most of the additional expenditures to pending capital cases and raises required under three different collective bargaining agreements for workers in his office.

A Republican, Sanguedolce was unopposed on the Nov. 2 ballot and received the most votes — 44,825 — of all countywide candidates, the unofficial tally shows.

He has described the support as “flattering” and said he hopes it is a sign of public approval for the office’s work.

Under new state legislation, Sanguedolce, previously First Assistant DA, had been appointed to fill the DA seat vacated by Stefanie Salavantis in March.

Litigation filed by Sanguedolce and county council is still pending in county court over the election board’s decision to place the DA race on the Nov. 2 ballot for a two-year term instead of waiting until 2023. Sanguedolce said he is still reviewing options on how to proceed in the legal action.