Spotlight PA reporters Min Xian and Angela Couloumbis spent months delving into how the manager of a small Pennsylvania city landed at the center of one of the most sweeping political corruption cases in the state in recent years.
Through dozens of interviews and public record requests, as well as data analysis, Spotlight PA found the former city manager, Herm Suplizio, capitalized on powers from key positions he held, a network of unlikely political connections, and the trust he amassed in his community of DuBois to gain almost unfettered access to millions of dollars in taxpayer and nonprofit funds.
It was the result of a perfect storm of circumstances, the reporters found.
Suplizio’s position as the city’s chief administrator gave him broad access to government finances with little oversight. His deep roots in DuBois also garnered him the kind of goodwill that few political figures achieve — and he nurtured loyalty among his employees by quietly rewarding them, year after year, with taxpayer-funded bonuses (saving the biggest bonus payouts for himself).
Suplizio was also a man who wore many hats in DuBois, holding outside jobs that, despite posing potential conflicts of interest with his city position, provided cover when moving taxpayer money out of city coffers.
He also had friends in high places, including wealthy entrepreneurs and the former top Republican in Pennsylvania’s Senate, who helped him land coveted state grants and other donations that other small towns struggle to attract.
The tenacious reporting produced by Spotlight PA culminated in an investigation that exposed how city leaders turned a blind eye to red flags involving its favored son, and the flaws of local government in Pennsylvania that allowed that to happen.
