Crime

Bookkeeper of Bell Acres mansion scheme sentenced to probation

December 1, 2023 / 1:27 PM EST / CBS Pittsburgh

Ann Harris sentenced to two years probation

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - A federal judge has sentenced the assistant to a millionaire who was implicated in a tax evasion scheme.

Ann Harris pled guilty eight years ago to her role in Joseph Nocito's scheme that helped to fund his Bell Acres home "Villa Noci" which was the biggest mansion in the entire state.

Harris was Nocito's bookkeeper, secretary, and personal assistant.

She contributed to her boss's fraud by writing checks for his companies to pay for extravagant personal expenses.

Between 2006 and 2012, Nocito illegally classified millions of dollars of personal expenses as deductible business expenses and financed the construction of a $30 million, 51,000-square-foot mansion called "Villa Nocci," the Department of Justice said. The falsified expenses allegedly included construction costs; an outdoor pool and pool house; tennis, basketball and bocce courts; and design and furnishings.

She was ultimately sentenced to two years probation.

Patrick Damp

Patrick Damp is a web producer for CBS Pittsburgh. A Pittsburgh native who grew up watching KDKA-TV, Patrick studied journalism at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. After half a decade in sports communication, Patrick decided to pursue his dream of working in journalism in his hometown and joined the CBS Pittsburgh team in 2019.