Pettit Moves Back Home

Pettit Moves Back Home

The Weekly Recorder
March 21, 2008

Canton Township-Former District Attorney John Petitt has moved back home sort of. Pettit has moved back onto the property that he shared with his estranged wife Sandra.

Pettit has two homes on the property and has moved back into the older of the two homes in Canton Township. The problem is that friends of his wife, Sandra are worried about the uncomfortable situation that his return could create for her with him living so close again.

Sandra Pettit is attempting to divorce her husband, the former District Attorney and father to her two sons. The divorce has become public due to the ongoing federal investigation and grand jury related to the alleged misdeeds of her husband. Sandra has been credited by many observers as bravely standing up to her husband, once the most feared man in Washington County before he was defeated by a 28 year old newcomer, Steve Toprani for District Attorney.

Pettit is being accused by the Federal Government of actually taking female prisoners from the Washington County Jail, transporting them to “Crack houses” for drugs and then allegedly having sex with them. One prisoner in particular, Tiffany Ryan, was the subject of extensive investigation by the F.B.I.

“We are all worried about her” one friend of Sandra Pettit stated. Friends have also worried about her safety given the large number of enemies that her husband has collected over the years. Pettit himself stayed in seclusion outside of Washington County during the period following the infamous “Election Day Massacre” in which Fredrick Brilla, a public enemy of Petitts and Martin Brahler, were murdered execution style. Petitt consistenly stated that he was staying in seclusion due to threats against his life.

The divorce could be more messy because John Petitt is quickly losing control of a series of properties that represented a great deal of the couples accummlated wealth. Some observers believe that John Petitt is losing the properties to insure that his wife Sandra will reap little benefit from their joint assets.

John Petitt in his application for his county pension did not make provisions for his wife, Sandra to receive benefits. Most legal experts that we spoke to did not believe Pettit is likely to keep his wife from his pension given Pennsylvania law though..

Pettit was living previously in an apartment on North Main Street in Washington, Pa. Before that he was staying in a property in Greene County that was owned by a political ally.
Petitt is still the subject of an ongoing Federal Grand Jury.