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Two days after brother-in-law Ronald Galati Sr. pleaded no contest to corrupt organization, theft, and similar charges in a high profile insurance-fraud case, Joseph Clark pleaded guilty to insurance fraud and conspiracy in matters that occurred in 2009 and ’10. The 59-year-old resident of the 2500 block of South Garnet Street entered his plea Sept. 9, with an investigation headed by Assistant District Attorney Dawn Holtz concluding that the Girard Estate inhabitant falsified accident claims so that Galati’s American Collision & Auto Center, 1930 S. 20th St., could benefit.
In the first incident, Clark claimed that a deer struck Galati Sr.’s ’04 Land Rover on Route 322 in New Jersey Feb. 24, ’09. In the other, he stated that a rental car struck Ronald Galati Jr.’s 2008 Jaguar as the former drove it in Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park, Broad Street and Pattison Avenue, May 16, ’10. Documentation states that Erie Insurance received the false claims, with paperwork stating that repair work occurred at American Collision.
The younger Galati pleaded guilty to theft and related charges regarding the matters the same day as the court system received a plea from his father, who is serving federal prison time for trying to have his daughter’s then-boyfriend killed in Nov. ’13. Under his deal, Clark received five years of probation and must pay $12,000 in restitution. The plea deal notes the probation period can end after he has submitted the money.
