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Famous Coroner Facing Fraud Charges

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Feb 10, 2006 11:10 am US/Eastern

Famous Coroner Facing Fraud Charges

Doctor Who Advised On Presley, Ramsey Cases Pleads Not Guilty

PITTSBURGH (AP) ― A nationally known coroner who consulted on death cases that included those of Elvis Presley and JonBenet Ramsey pleaded not guilty Friday to federal charges alleging he used his government staff for private gain.

Dr. Cyril Wecht was arraigned on 84 counts including mail fraud, wire fraud, theft of honest services and theft from the Allegheny County coroner's office.

An indictment issued Jan. 20 accuses Wecht of using government employees or resources to run private errands and do laboratory work for his private company between 1996 and December 2005.

Prosecutors also say Wecht bilked his private clients by overcharging them and using fake travel agency bills to cover his tracks.

Wecht, 74, has denied doing private work on county time. He resigned from his government job after the indictment.

Prosecutors have declined to estimate how much Wecht might have gained from the alleged abuse. His private practice brought him $4.65 million from 1997 to 2004.

Wecht, who is free on $100,000 bond, built a reputation as a coroner-for-hire in the 1960s, when he criticized the Warren Commission's findings in President Kennedy's assassination. He has consulted on some of the nation's highest-profile deaths, and has made millions doing it.

Among Wecht's consulting jobs were the cases of Elvis Presley, Laci Peterson and JonBenet Ramsey.

(© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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