Appeals court upholds contempt charge, jail sentence against Claire Risoldi

Posted July 18, 2017

A Pennsylvania appeals court has upheld a contempt judgment against a politically connected Bucks County woman for violating a court order barring her from contacting prosecution witnesses in a $20 million fraud case in which she is a defendant.

Attorney Jack McMahon, who is representing Claire Risoldi, 70, of Buckingham, vowed on Tuesday to appeal the case to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, but didn't provide additional comment on the appeals court decision.

Claire Risoldi

In a nine-page decision issued Monday, the three state judges found that the lower court did not abuse its discretion in finding Risoldi was in “indirect criminal contempt of court.”

Last month marked one year since Chester County Senior Judge Thomas Gavin found Risoldi in contempt of court for using the subpoena process to skirt his no-contact order with witnesses in the fraud case and ordered her to serve 30 days in jail.

“The record indicates Judge Gavin’s order was definite, clear and specific and left no doubt or uncertainty in the mind of either Risoldi or her counsel,” the appeals court wrote. The appeals court order also noted that Risoldi was in the courtroom when the Feb. 8, 2016, order was issued and McMahon indicated that he understood what it meant.

Claire Risoldi, her daughter, Carla Risoldi, 50, of Solebury, son Carl A. Risoldi, 46, and his wife, Sheila Risoldi, 45, both of Buckingham, are accused of fraud and related offenses in connection with alleged false insurance claims filed following an October 2013 fire at the family estate, Clairemont, in Buckingham, according to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office. Through their respective attorneys, the family members consistently have denied any wrongdoing in the state’s fraud case.

Gavin is overseeing the Risoldi fraud case and related matters after all Bucks County judges recused themselves in 2015, when the criminal charges were filed against the family, which has close ties with the county’s Republican Party. No trial date has been scheduled in the Risoldi cases as other outstanding related appeals await Superior Court decisions.

Claire Risoldi, who will be tried separately from her other family members, also faces charges of insurance fraud dating back as far as 1984, as well as charges of witness intimidation. In April 2016, state prosecutors learned that Claire Risoldi had subpoenas served on witnesses in the 2013 fraud case, prompting them to file the contempt of court motion, as well as witness intimidation charges.

The appellate judges disagreed with the argument McMahon raised that Risoldi did not violate the order because she never had any contact with witnesses. The appeal order also noted that Risoldi didn’t contest that she personally participated in preparing and serving the subpoenas.

“Despite the lower court’s directive Risoldi, personally and without the assistance of attorney McMahon, proceeded to have a series of subpoenas served,” the order stated. Among the recipients of the subpoena were Buckingham Police Department, Bucks County District Attorney’s Office and the Buckingham Fire Marshal’s office.

McMahon has 30 days to file a petition for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to hear the case; if that appeal is filed, Risoldi will remain free without bail while the high court decides if it will hear the case.