GLENSHAW, Pa. – State Rep. Jeffrey E. Habay (search) was charged Wednesday for allegedly lying about a white powder he said he received in the mail from a contituent who was critical of him.
Allegheny County authorities charged Habay, 38, with facsimile weapons of mass destruction (search), falsely incriminating another and fictious reports for claiming in May that he received an envelope in his home that contained a suspicious white powder.
U.S. Postal Office investigators had said the powder was harmless.
Habay, a five-term Allegheny County Republican, is already awaiting trial on ethics charges. He was charged last year with theft of service and conflict of interest for allegedly using his staff to campaign on state time.
The State Ethics Commission ordered Habay to pay nearly $13,000 in restitution and referred the case to state prosecutors, who filed the felony charges.
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