EASTON, Pa. — Former Hellertown Police Chief Robert Shupp on Thursday pleaded not guilty to charges of stealing $122,000 from the borough during his time in office.
Prosecutors filed charges in December accusing Shupp of receiving pay for overtime he never worked, requesting cash for nonexistent drug buys and taking money seized by officers.
He faces 18 counts in all, including forgery, theft, tampering with official records and receiving stolen property.
Shupp resigned as Hellertown police chief in October, after borough officials noticed a “discrepancy” in his payroll, Borough Council Vice President Matt Marcincin said.
In his formal arraignment Thursday afternoon, Shupp’s attorney, Gary Asteak, told Northampton County Judge Michael Koury the case was not ready to be resolved, moving it toward an eventual trial.
“This is a complex case, there’s a lot of paper, and there's a lot of materials that we have to go through."Gary Asteak, attorney for former Hellertown Police Chief Robert Shupp
Shupp’s prosecution probably will continue to move slowly, Asteak said.
“This is a complex case, there’s a lot of paper, and there's a lot of materials that we have to go through,” he said after the arraignment.
“As of now, there's no guilty plea, there's no deal, and we're just wading through the material when we get it to prepare ourselves for a trial.”
Background of case
Asteak said he will give the judge another update when Shupp is next scheduled to appear in court Oct. 29.
From 2020 to 2023, Shupp was paid for more than 1,600 hours he falsely claimed he worked, totaling more than $81,000, Northampton County Detective Paul Romanic wrote in court documents laying out the charges.
He used falsified forms to request and receive roughly $22,000 in $20 bills from the borough for undercover drug investigations that didn’t exist, the charging documents say.
Prosecutors also allege that, as police chief, Shupp alone had access to the safe where Hellertown police stored nearly $20,000 in seized cash, typically from defendants in drug cases.
When investigators opened that safe, Romanic wrote, they found only $32.58.
Asteak previously said that the charges “all arose out of misunderstandings and lack of administrative oversight and audits within the police department.”
He argued that some of the allegations should be handled through a civil lawsuit rather than criminal prosecution.
