Jason Cato

The sentencing Monday of a Penn Hills man ended a two-year public corruption saga that resulted in prison time for a former Pittsburgh city councilwoman and convictions for two of her staffers.

Lee Otto Johnson, 79, did not speak before an Allegheny County judge sentenced him to 8 to 23 months on home arrest for his role in a kickback scheme directed by former Councilwoman Twanda Carlisle, 49.

Johnson, who shares a home with Carlisle's mother, was on probation for a 29-year-old theft and conspiracy conviction when he agreed to author a bogus public health report for Carlisle at a taxpayer cost of nearly $30,000 -- half of which Carlisle pocketed for her personal use.

Prosecutors said Johnson claimed to have an advanced degree from Columbia State University, a diploma mill shut down by the federal government in 1998.

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"His life was a lie," Assistant District Attorney Lawrence Claus told Common Pleas Judge John A. Zottola.

A criminal investigation, started after the Tribune-Review first questioned the health report in April 2006, revealed Carlisle hired friends to perform meaningless work and then took $43,000 in kickbacks to pay for trips, jewelry, a fur coat and other items.

She was sentenced in February to one to two years in state prison after pleading guilty to 17 counts of theft, perjury, violating ethics laws and conspiracy.

Two former Carlisle staffers provided Carlisle with kickbacks for meaningless work. Sheryl A. Pinson-Smith of Lawrenceville was sentenced to 8 to 23 months' house arrest, and Darlene Durham of McKeesport was sentenced to two years' probation.

Zottola convicted Johnson in March of theft by deception.

The District Attorney's office said the case is closed, and Homewood resident Phillip Martin said he is pleased it's over.

"I think it is closing the chapter, and I don't see a new one opening," said Martin, 52, who lobbied for Carlisle's impeachment before she resigned in November.

Ora Lee Carroll, head of neighborhood development nonprofit East Liberty Concerned Citizens, called Johnson's sentencing the last chapter.

"We got the death notice from the newspaper," said Carroll, 67, of Larimer, referring to the original Trib story about Johnson's bogus health report. "Now we're getting the obituary. What has happened here, I guess we should all learn from it and move on."

The Rev. Ricky Burgess replaced Carlisle in the 9th District as council's representative for East Hills, East Liberty, Larimer, Lincoln-Lemington, Bel-Mar and parts of Garfield, Friendship and Point Breeze. He declined to comment through a spokeswoman.

Defense attorney Robert Foreman said Johnson was duped into helping Carlisle and asked Zottola for leniency, citing his client's age and minimal role in the scheme. He noted that at least one percent of the state population is incarcerated.

"You'd be hard pressed to show 99 percent of people are less of a threat to the commonwealth than (Johnson) is," Foreman said.

Claus scoffed at that assertion.

"There's no question that Lee Otto Johnson stands before you as an elderly gentleman, but he was an elderly gentleman when he committed this crime," Claus said. "Even a man of advanced age has to pay the piper."