Among the hundreds of certified PIAA officials working WPIAL athletic events are individuals who have violated elements of the organization's by-laws regarding criminal activities that should preclude them from working as athletic officials. Here are some examples:

In 1992, certified wrestling official Dennis Ray Waltko of Allison Park was convicted of stealing $276,352 from a company he worked for, eventually pleading guilty in exchange for probation and restitution. In April 2003, McCandless police charged him with two counts of theft for stealing $10,000 from the North Allegheny Tiger Junior Wrestling Association, where he was treasurer.

Waltko explained that he was "a compulsive thief for 42 years," reads a probable cause affidavit in the case which ended with his guilty plea, restitution and seven years of probation.

While a news story appeared in local papers May 8, 2003, his license was not suspended until April 2005 "for reasons that are unrelated to any alleged criminal conduct," according to Bradley R. Cashman, executive director of the PIAA, who said it has no information he pleaded guilty to any offenses. He did not respond to a letter from the Post-Gazette.

Ambridge High School social studies teacher David Costanza was removed from the classroom shortly after his arrest March 21, 2007, for crimes related to sexual intercourse he allegedly had in his apartment with a 15-year-old student after he sent her numerous cell phone text messages "of a sexual nature," according to a probable cause affidavit. He pleaded guilty a month later and was sentenced to six months in prison, which ended Dec. 22, 2007.

His license to umpire baseball games was not suspended until Dec. 4, 2007, according to Mr. Cashman, "for reasons that are unrelated to any alleged criminal conduct." Costanza did not respond to a letter from the Post-Gazette.

Timothy Walter Boyle, 61, of Munhall was charged with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a mentally disabled person and other crimes Sept. 12, 2004. He continued to hold a PIAA license to officiate baseball games for six months until it was suspended. But despite his imprisonment for as long as eight years on a guilty plea, his license has never been revoked. Mr. Cashman said Mr. Boyle was suspended for "reasons that are unrelated to any alleged criminal conduct and that [the PIAA] has no information that he was involved in crime."

After surveillance confirmed an informant's information on four occasions that Regis Fath, a certified PIAA official in football, softball, swimming and diving and volleyball, was running a bookmaking operation in West Mifflin, was arrested 1987 just after allegedly collecting his daily numbers at two West Mifflin bars.

He was charged with operating a lottery and resisting arrest when he tried to flee two Allegheny County detectives by "running away and struggling on the ground with detectives, which justified or required substantial force to overcome the resistance," according to a probable cause affidavit filed with the case.

Fath, 56, was in possession of nearly $1,000 in cash and a notebook with the daily numbers bets. He pleaded guilty on the lottery charge and paid a $250 fine. He has been registered since 1996 as a swimming and diving official, since 1999 in football and softball and since 2003 in volleyball.

Cashman said he has no information that the Regis J. Fath registered as an official was ever charged or convicted of crimes. Cashman said he contacted Fath in the past two weeks to ask him about the conviction. Fath did not respond to a letter from the Post-Gazette.

Dennis A. Lauria, 58, a PIAA baseball official, had, according to police records, previous arrests for theft when he was charged with two illegal gun violations inside of one year in the early 1990s.

During a meeting at the William Penn Hotel on an undisclosed undercover operation, Mr. Lauria, of McKees Rocks, was told he would not be granted access if he had any weapons. "Dennis A. Lauria surrendered to the [undercover] officer a firearm he was carrying in the waist of his trousers."

Lauria, charged in December 1990 with a first-degree misdemeanor, had no permit to carry the .22 caliber semi automatic, a crime he pleaded guilty to.

Then, he was caught allegedly trying to sell a .38-caliber handgun with its serial numbers ground down to an undercover cop for $300. Lauria told the undercover cop the firearm was "clean" or "untraceable," according to a probable cause affidavit in the case.

The weapon's serial number was raised, and it was traced back to the Pasco, Wash., County police department from which it had been stolen.

Lauria pleaded guilty in June 1991 to misdemeanor gun and serial number charges and served a two- to four-month sentence.

The PIAA said it had no information on criminal matters involving Lauria, who has been a registered official since 1990 in football, since 2005 in baseball and 2007 in wrestling.

In a telephone message after written questions were sent to him, Lauria said while he was charged with felonies, his convictions were not felonies, it had no impact on his officiating license. He said he is a very good official.

Records made available to the Post-Gazette from area school districts show he has worked baseball games for at North Hills School District, Keystone Oaks, West Allegheny, Carlynton, Wilkinsburg, Brentwood and Quaker Valley as late as last spring.