[Auto] Feds cite Weaver's possible pursuit of city loan in fight over sealed motion in fraud case

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Former Erie auto dealer Adam J. Weaver is considering seeking a business loan from the city of Erie if his sentence of supervised release ends early in his federal fraud case, according to a newly filed court document.

The federal prosecutor who filed the document is also arguing that Weaver's possible pursuit of a publicly funded loan is one reason a judge should refuse to keep secret a defense motion that details Weaver reasons for requesting an early end to his term of supervised release.

The possible involvement of the city's loan program, Assistant U.S. Attorney Christian Trabold said in the filing, gives the public "a direct financial interest" in Weaver's request for early termination of his term of supervised release, similar to probation.

Weaver, the former president of Rick Weaver Buick GMC in Erie, already served his prison term of four months. He has about nine months left under his supervised release sentence of three years.

Weaver's request:Adam Weaver wants supervised release to end early, reasons sealed in car dealer fraud case

Trabold also asked that Senior U.S. District Judge David S. Cercone refuse to seal the defense motion to avoid adding to the impression that a wealthy defendant, such as Weaver, gets preferential treatment from the justice system. Trabold said the First Amendment and longstanding law favor openness of court records and proceedings.

"Sealing the motion plainly undercuts the interest in providing the public with a more complete understanding of the judicial system," Trabold said in the filing, docketed in U.S. District Court in Erie on Wednesday.

"Sealing the motion will eviscerate the public perception of fairness because the public will only know that a wealthy member of the community had his sentence cut short and will be prevented from knowing the reasons supporting Weaver’s motion," Trabold said in the filing. "Sealing the motion and keeping it away from the public will only further the public’s perception that the wealthy get special treatment in the judicial system."

Of the connection between Weaver's request and a possible loan from the city, Trabold said in the filing: "Perhaps most importantly, the public has a direct financial interest in the facts and circumstances surrounding Weaver’s proposed early termination of supervised release. Weaver supports and advances his motion, in part, upon the availability of a City of Erie economic development loan if he is released early from supervised release.

"Depriving the public access to the motion is plainly inappropriate when the public has an obvious economic stake in the outcome Weaver seeks," Trabold said. "If the motion is sealed, an appearance of impropriety will be impossible to escape."

Trabold, who has access to the motion related to Weaver's request, did not offer specific details about Weaver's plans, according to the filing. But Trabold in the filing indicated that the plans involve a local venture.

Referring to the motion Weaver wants sealed, Trabold said in the filing that "Weaver makes numerous claims about business transactions and the Erie economy which should be subject to public scrutiny."

Weaver has not applied for a business loan from the city, Chris Groner, the official who manage the city's loan programs, told the Erie Times-News. Groner, the former director of the city's Department of Economic and Community development, continues to oversee the city's loan program as head of Erie County’s new Office of Capital Finance and Lending.

In Weaver's criminal case, Cercone has scheduled a virtual hearing for Tuesday on Weaver's request to seal the motion for early release from supervision. Weaver's lawyers, Efrem Grail and Brian Bevan, of Pittsburgh, filed the request in December. They argued in a filing that Cercone should seal the motion to protect "confidential, sensitive, proprietary financial information about third parties," apparently referring to those that could be part of Weaver's plans.