Frank Gigliotti

Frank J. Gigliotti (October 30, 1942 – August 7, 2011) was a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the 22nd legislative district. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and attended South Hills High School and the Carnegie Mellon Managerial School.[3]

Frank J. Gigliotti
Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
from the 22nd district
In office
January 3, 1989[1] – June 15, 2000[2]
Preceded bySteve Seventy
Succeeded byMichael Diven
ConstituencyPart of Allegheny County
Personal details
Born(1942-10-30)October 30, 1942
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
DiedAugust 7, 2011(2011-08-07) (aged 68)
West Melbourne, Florida
Political partyDemocratic
ResidenceBrookline, Pennsylvania
Alma materCarnegie Mellon Managerial School

Biography

A close ally of former Pittsburgh Mayor Richard Caliguiri, Gigliotti was the Special Assistant to Director of the Pittsburgh Department of Public Works during the 1980s and served as a board member of the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority, also known as Alcosan.[4] He was a Democratic chairman of Pittsburgh's 19th Ward.[4] He was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1988. Gigliotti was known as a popular and friendly politician who had the "gift of gab."[4] During his tenure, Gigliotti was known as the House Democratic Caucus' "point man" for the proposed expansion of riverboat gambling.[5]

Over a period of 3 years in the late 1990s, Gigliotti extorted thousands of dollars from government contractors, who had hoped to gain contracts from Alcosan, where Gigliotti sat on the board.[6] In 1998 and 1999, he took $17,100 in bribes in exchange for his influence over the awarding of a sludge recycling contract.[6] Gigliotti then demanded 10 percent of the profits and then $2,000 a month from the contract.[6] He also extorted plane fare and tickets to Disney World from an Alcosan engineering firm. In 1999, he tried to sell confidential Alcosan bid information to several competing firms.[6] One of those firms included governmental informant Ernest Smalis, who recorded Gigliotti say, "[Expletive] the people."[6]

In April 2000, he pleaded guilty to federal extortion, mail fraud, and tax evasion charges and was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison by United States federal judge Gustave Diamond, who said that "Gigliotti treated his political power and influence as a commodity to be sold for personal profit, which he did without restraint or regret."[6] Following the sentencing, the prosecuting Assistant U.S. Attorney told Gigliotti, "Frank, from everything I've been told, you're a loving father and grandfather. I hope your family carries you through this."[7]

It was later discovered by The Morning Call that his political committee "Friends of Frank Gigliotti" had paid $3,000 to the Manifesto & Donahoe law firm in contravention of Pennsylvania's campaign finance laws, which states that such funds must be used "for the purposes of influencing the outcome of an election."[8] The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette noted that just prior to his resignation, Gigliotti clandestinely inserted "language into a bill to eradicate funding for Pittsburgh City Court."[9] Following his release from prison, Gigliotti took a job as a parking attendant with Alco Parking in Pittsburgh.[4] Frank J. Gigliotti died peacefully on Sunday August 7, 2011 in West Melbourne, Florida. He is survived by his daughter Regina Feeney and her daughter Samantha of Merritt Island Fl., Frank Gigliotti Jr. of Sarasota, Fl., & Christina and Darrell Costellic and their 3 children Toni, Petie and Ryan of West Melbourne, Fl. Formerly married to Joanne (Zitelli) Gigliotti and survived by brothers Anthony Gigliotti, Michael Gigliotti, Sister Theresa Curry, and many nieces and nephews.

References
  1. "Session of 1989 - 173D of the General Assembly - No. 1" (PDF). Legislative Journal. Pennsylvania House of Representatives. 1989-01-03.
  2. Cox, Harold (2004-11-03). "Pennsylvania House of Representatives - 1999-2000" (PDF). Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.
  3. "Frank J. Gigliotti (Democrat)". Official Pennsylvania House of Representatives Profile. Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Archived from the original on 2000-01-25.
  4. Barnes, Tom (2002-08-18). "Former legislator back as parking attendant". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. PG Publishing Co., Inc.
  5. Erdley, Debra (2009-01-04). "'Little guy' rolls big as gambling lobbyist". Pittsburgh Tribune Review. Tribune-Review Publishing Co.
  6. Ove, Torsten (2000-06-22). "Gigliotti gets stiff sentence". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. PG Publishing.
  7. Ove, Torsten (August 28, 2000). "Newsmaker: Hot prosecutor switching to the defense". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. PG Publishing.
  8. "Gigliotti used campaign money to pay legal bills". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. April 18, 2001.
  9. Roddy, Dennis (July 19, 2003). "Sponsored by state Rep. Anonymous, R-Murkysville". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. PG Publishing Co., Inc.
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