A federal grand jury this morning handed up an 84-count indictment against Allegheny County Medical Examiner Dr. Cyril H. Wecht, alleging he used his office as coroner to conduct private pathology business and used public employees to perform some of that work.

The indictment also accuses Dr. Wecht of falsely billing several private clients for such items as transportation to and from the Pittsburgh airport when he was, in fact, driven there by county employees.

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The indictment accuses him of mail and wire fraud; theft of honest services; and theft from an organization that receives federal funds.

Dr. Wecht served as Allegheny County Coroner from 1970 to 1980 and again from 1996 through his appointment as medical examiner earlier this month.

The investigation began when questions arose whether Dr. Wecht was improperly mixing his private forensic pathology business with county work.

In a related indictment, George Hollis, a former chief histologist in the coroner's office, was also charged with four counts of theft from an organization receiving federal funds; willful failure to file taxes; and making false statements.

Pathologist and longtime Wecht associate Leon Rozin was charged in a separate and unrelated indictment with a count of mail fraud for filing what prosecutors said were false mileage reimbursements.

One member of the Wecht legal team, Mark Rush, spent part of last night on the telephone with U.S. Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty in a last-ditch attempt to forestall the indictment, requesting a departmental review of the charges in Washington before they moved forward.

Mr. Rush declined today to discuss details of that conversation but called the public office-related charges against Dr. Wecht "tenuous."

U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan held a news conference today to discuss the indictment.

Dr. Wecht made an agreement with county Chief Executive Dan Onorato that he would step down from the medical examiner's post if he were indicted. Mr. Onorato said today that he had accepted a resignation letter that had been written in advance and placed on file.

He also announced that a committee will be assembled to make a national search for a replacement. Dr. Abdulrezak Shakir, a forensic pathologist who has been an employee of the county since 1988, has been named acting medical examiner.

U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan held a news conference today to announce the indictment.

Among the allegations:

-- Dr. Wecht used county resources, including office equipment, vehicles and employees, for his own personal business, Cyril H. Wecht and Pathology Associates Inc. No dollar figure was put on the alleged benefit to the company.

-- Dr. Wecht overbilled his private clients, having false travel agency bills generated that increased the cost of his airfare and charging them $90 for an "airport limousine charge," when he was really traveling there in a county-owned vehicle.

-- Dr. Wecht asked his clients to pay his travel expenses in checks made out to him personally, which he then would not report in his business proceeds, instead taking it as "pocket money."

-- Dr. Wecht asked employees of the coroner's office to perform personal errands for him, including dog-walking; picking up personal mail; "purchasing sporting goods such as tennis balls and nostril swimming plugs," and hauling away trash.

-- Dr. Wecht used county resources, including equipment and employees, to organize political events and to solicit campaign donations for both himself and his son, Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge David Wecht.

One of the most surprising charges against Dr. Wecht is that he traded the bodies of people who came into the coroner's office with no known next-of-kin with Carlow University in exchange for lab space there.

Ms. Buchanan would not say how many bodies were involved but that there were several each month.

According to the indictment, Dr. Wecht's private business generated more than $8.75 million in gross income between 1997 and 2004. Dr. Wecht, the sole owner of the business, earned more than $4.65 million in officer compensation during that same time frame.

Dr. Wecht told the IRS that from 1998 to 2004, 100 percent of his time was devoted to his private business, the indictment alleges.

"The defense team intends to vigorously challenge all of the charges and the nature and scope of the investigation," Mr. Rush said. "Moreover, we will mount a legal assault on the investigative tactics of the substantive charges contained within the indictment." Mr. Rush would not talk about what those tactics were.

He is planning to hold a news conference on the charges at 3 p.m. Summonses will be mailed to all three defendants, setting a date and time for arraignment in federal court in the next couple weeks, Ms. Buchanan said.

More details in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.