Tuesday, April 13, 2010

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA v. GERALD GARZONE

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA v. GERALD GARZONE
No. 695 EDA 2009 2010 PA Super 57 Atlantic: n/a Filed: 4/13/2010

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence January 30, 2009
In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County
Criminal Division at No(s): CP-51-CR-0012746-2007
Before: STEVENS, MUNDY, JJ., and McEWEN, P.J.E.
Opinion by: STEVENS, J.
This is an appeal from the judgment of sentence entered on January 30, 2009 in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County following Appellant Gerald Garzone’s guilty plea to numerous charges, including corrupt organizations, criminal conspiracy, 244 counts of theft by unlawful taking (for theft of body parts), abuse of corpse, recklessly endangering another person, and fraudulently obtaining food stamps or other public assistance in connection with his participation in the illegal harvesting and sale of human body parts from corpses, as well as filing false forms seeking reimbursement from the government for providing funeral services for which he had already been paid. As part of Appellant’s sentence, upon the filing of a timely post-sentence motion by the Commonwealth, the trial court directed Appellant to pay $90,028, which was comprised of $84,723 for the salaries of the assistant district attorneys and county detectives assigned to the District Attorney’s Office, as well as $5,305 for the grand jury costs. On appeal, Appellant contends the trial court did not have the authority to order Appellant to pay the expenses associated with the district attorneys’ salaries, the county detectives’ salaries, or the grand jury costs. We vacate Appellant’s judgment of sentence as it relates to the costs for the assistant district attorneys’ and county detectives’ salaries but affirm in all other respects.
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