Delaware
Former Delaware state employee stole $181K from unemployment trust fund
There was no mention of a theft of taxpayer funds in York’s report, which came nearly a year after the theft was discovered. AOA spokesperson Samuel Barry said office policy is to neither confirm or deny whether there’s an active investigation. He would not answer whether the investigation had been closed.
WHYY News requested interviews with York, DOL Secretary Carol Hubbard and UI Office Director Darryl Scott, but was told they were unavailable.
The DOL said a background check was done upon Brittingham’s hire in early 2019, which is required for people with access to federal tax information. Yet, a Delaware State Police arrest warrant stated Brittingham had been making hundreds of illegal transactions as treasurer of the Chimney Hill Homeowners Association in Felton. The warrant said payments were made to various stores, banks and NEWAGE Management LLC, his company dating back to the summer of 2018. Brittingham’s name and address on the LLC paperwork filed with the Delaware Division of Corporations match the Superior Court records.
The August 2019 warrant alleges that he stole nearly $42,890 between June 2018 and April 2019. Brittingham pleaded guilty to a Class G felony for theft of $1,500 or more. He received a two-year suspended prison sentence and spent a year on probation, court filings stated. Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Clark ordered Brittingham remain on probation until he repaid the HOA the money he owed them.
Brittingham’s wages were garnished by the Superior Court, but it’s unclear how much restitution the HOA members received. Board President Mary Fallon said they got some of the money back, but didn’t respond to further requests for information. Other board members declined to comment or didn’t return calls seeking comment. The state court system declined to give the amount of restitution he paid, citing exemptions to open records.
While he was serving his sentence for felony theft, Brittingham was promoted to supervisory roles within the state agency, becoming unemployment insurance office administrator in 2021. DOL said employees are expected to self-report criminal convictions.
Ashley Ronan, a childhood friend who knew Brittingham for 31 years, said she got a message out of the blue from him in the fall of 2022 asking if she was looking for a job. He was seeking to hire an assistant.
“I’m like, ‘I have zero experience in this field,’ and he was like, ‘That’s okay, I’ll teach you everything,’” she said. “Obviously, he’s a businessman. He works for the state. He’s a friend. I had no reason to doubt him.”
Ronan said she was hired through a staffing company without a single interview. Her job began with checking Brittingham’s emails and taking notes in meetings, Then it expanded to tasks that some UI employees said contractors had no place doing, such as cutting refund checks and processing stop payments.
Employers have tax accounts with the Department of Labor and they pay into the UI trust fund based on the wages of their employees. If they pay too much, they get credits, which entitles them to a refund.
Brittingham told some of his UI subordinates in January 2023 that an employer bought a closed LLC and acquired the credits on the unemployment account, Laura Henderson stated in a written statement given to retired Delaware State Police Sgt. Evan Holmes as part of the theft investigation and reviewed by WHYY News. DOL said credits in this case were added to the fraudulent account established by Brittingham.
According to statements given to Delaware State Police, internal DOL emails and check registries, he insisted they change the name of the business’ tax account in the system to a new name: NEWAGE Management LLC.
“The accountant is upset and they have a screaming match with Michael (Brittingham), who is trying to bully us to change the name on the account,” Henderson’s police statement said.
Delaware State Police denied an open records request for a copy of the police report.
The documents obtained by WHYY News reveal that after Brittingham got another UI accountant to change the name on the account, he moved to have his friend Ashley Ronan trained to cut refund checks.
Ronan said she was asked by Brittingham to make two checks out to NEWAGE Management LLC, one for $86,827 and another for $94,357. She said she was not aware until she was interviewed by state police that the checks went to Brittingham’s company. She believes she was put in that position because of their longtime friendship.
“I think that he knew that I would trust him,” Ronan said. “That I wouldn’t question it because I wouldn’t know what I was supposed to question. I didn’t know what was not normal, or what flags to look for. And I think that he knew that. I think that he knew that I would be the perfect person.”
She and Henderson said between the fall of 2022 and April 2023, Brittingham took his family on a cruise and bought a truck and camper.
The UI Office connected the fraudulent account to Brittingham’s LLC in late March after seeing the 2019 arrest warrant listed his old address and reported it to top DOL leadership.
Ronan said she was let go on from her job as a contractor with DOL on April 3 of last year.
“I was working from home that day,” she said. “I couldn’t get into my computer. So I was messaging [Brittingham] and I received a phone call. I said, ‘Hey, I can’t get in.’ So then he said, ‘Alright, I’ll send a message.’ And then I got the phone call that my contract was terminated with the state.”
Brittingham took his life later that day. Henderson said she was told Brittingham was placed under investigation on April 3.
Ronan said he was working from Dover that day. She said Holmes also interviewed her as part of the investigation and believes she was considered a target at one point.
“I felt that I was being set up and I was gonna go to jail,” Ronan said. “And it was really scary because you never know at what point, if their decision changed, they could have arrested me. So just having to deal with that not knowing and then knowing that I didn’t do anything wrong. And I was just waiting for the hammer to drop.”
DOL said the money Brittingham stole has not been returned to the fund. Ronan said the state needs to be held accountable.
“The legal processes to recover fraudulently obtained funds takes time, but the DOL continues to work with our legal team to recoup funds from the fraudulent transaction,” spokeswoman Natasha Percival-Rawlins said.
It’s unclear whether there have been any steps taken to prevent a similar type of trust fund embezzlement from happening again.
Auditor Lydia York’s special report called out an ongoing lack of “robust internal controls,” over the fund. She also cited mounting problems over several years that failed to be addressed due to factors including a lack of oversight and outdated systems. York took the heads of DOL and the Division of Accounting to task in her report.
“Management contributed to a critical accounting situation in the months and years preceding the current fiscal year,” the report said.
The AOA Office, UI Office and Department of Finance said efforts are ongoing to modernize the office’s antiquated system. State law changed in June 2023 to align with federal IRS policy that shortens the time between background checks from 10 years to five years. That took effect in June 2023.
Henderson said she hopes state leaders give more oversight over the trust fund and address other issues within the office.
“We would love for there to be transparency,” she said. “For us to just put it out in the open like, ‘Hey, we’re drowning and let’s come up with a plan here.’”
PHILADELPHIA – Law enforcement agencies across the Delaware Valley are boosting security at religious and cultural sites following U.S.-Israeli strikes against Iran, even as officials say there is no credible threat to the area.
The Department of Homeland Security also issued an alert after Operation Epic Fury, warning agencies to remain vigilant for suspicious activity despite assessing that a large-scale attack on U.S. soil is unlikely.
Hours after the strikes, protesters gathered in cities nationwide. In Phoenixville, dozens rallied Saturday afternoon, calling the military action “senseless.”
“Stop the war. People are suffering in this country with food prices, rent, healthcare, money for the people’s needs here,” said Curry Malott, a West Chester University associate professor of educational foundations and policy studies.
President Donald Trump has said the joint operation would eliminate Iran’s nuclear and military programs and change the regime. Some demonstrators criticized the president’s decision.
“Trump has broken his campaign promises with no new wars, and here he is going into another,” said Kyle Horstmann of Phoenixville.
Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick said in a statement that Iran poses a grave threat, adding, “Iran and its proxies are responsible for countless deaths of Americans and our partners. That record is long, deliberate, and undeniable-and it cannot be ignored.” He adds sustained military engagement should be done with consent of Congress.
Democratic leaders, including Senator Andy Kim, argued the president failed to seek congressional approval for the strikes.
“I have zero confidence in this president who has so flagrantly violated our constitution,” Kim said. He called for Congress to immediately reconvene to vote on a war powers resolution.
“I hope there can be unanimity that when it comes to strikes of this magnitude, when American service members lives are at risk, what greater responsibility do we have in Congress than to look out for our service members and the national security of our country?” he said.
The Homeland Security alert also warned of potential low-level cyberattacks targeting U.S. networks, adding another layer of concern for authorities monitoring threats at home.
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As the Delaware County Health Department recognized success over a year period, county officials also voiced work needed to be done particularly in light of infant and maternal outcomes.
“Unfortunately, in Delaware County, we do still have some issues with maternal and child health,” county Executive Director Barbara O’Malley said. “Between 2019 and 2023, 1.3% of our births were classified as ‘very low birthweight.’
“That’s actually higher than our neighboring suburban counties, which are all under 1%,” she explained. “And Philadelphia is at 1.6. So, we know we have work to do and that’s what our health department is here to do.”
O’Malley added that 15.6% of Delaware County residents received inadequate prenatal care, which is determined by when someone begins their prenatal care.
In addition, County Deputy Health Director Stephanie Reese said the disparity among communities of color has grown.
“While Pennsylvania’s Black and white infant mortality gap has narrowed in recent years, Delaware County’s gap has widened. Black infant mortality in Delco increased from 2.9 to 3.9 times that of whites,” she said.
That’s a factor driven by low birthweights linked to premature birth and preventable social and environmental factors.
Last week, Delaware County Council approved to advertise a request for proposals for an awareness and education campaign for the county health department’s Centralized Intake System and the Delco Doula Collaborative. This is funded through a U.S. Department of Labor grant.
This action will allow the DelcoDoula.org to go live once completed. This site for the Delco Doula Collaborative is a web-based registry of perinatal doulas offering doula information and matching services in Delaware County.
“We have so many resources available to people but they may just not be aware of how much we can do for people that are around maternal and child health issues,” O’Malley said.
She said the intake system would be a single point of entry for maternal and child health resources, including eligibility-based matching.
“Once we maybe learn about you, we can give you customized services and resources that you would qualify for,” O’Malley added.
The executive director explained why it’s critical to focus on these outcomes.
“We do know that maternal and child health is very important for so many reasons,” O’Malley said. “A healthy infant, a healthy pregnancy obviously gives people a healthy life, a great start in life, has better health outcomes, educational outcomes and better outcomes for the families.”
Doula programs can help, she explained.
“Research shows that doula programs such as the one that is supported by grant funding through the health department (and) through The Foundation for Delaware County … that there are lower rates of pre-term births, lower rates of low birthweight, lower rates of Caesarian section and higher rates of breastfeeding,” O’Malley said.
One way to support this is through increased awareness of these programs and initiatives, something O’Malley said is hoped to improve birth outcomes and advance health equity in Delaware County.
While the awareness campaign is coming, many of these programs already exist.
“People can avail themselves of them right away,” O’Malley said, directing the community to the health department website.
There, moms and moms-to-be can get support through virtual pre- and postnatal partum doula groups, where moms can learn how to care for their baby, free supplies including diapers and baby essentials, immunizations for infants as well as mental health support for new moms.
“It is critical that we get our Delaware County infants and youth off to the right start and taking care of their moms and families is the way to do it and we do have a lot of resources and we want to make sure that people take advantage of them,” O’Malley said.
Other health programs
Among some of the efforts the Delaware County Health Department have done include meeting with residents during February to offer free blood pressure screenings across the county, including Yeadon, Lansdowne, Chester and Springfield.
Through its Delco Revive! program, it also continues to offer free CPR classes with another one being held at the Yeadon Wellness Center at 125 S. Chester Road from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Thursday, March 26.
“According to the American Heart Association, about 70% of cardiac arrests that happen outside the hospital occur in homes,” county Council Chair Richard Womack said. “Please take the opportunity to learn how to save a life by participating in one of these classes.”
The health department also released its 2025 Annual Report that focused on strengthening public health infrastructure, expanding equitable access to services, and deepening community partnerships across the county.
Some of the accomplishments included expanded doula services, maternal wellness programming, and youth health initiatives to support healthy families and improve early-life outcomes; comprehensive Back-to-School events and community-based education efforts, including the Lead Free in 1-2-3 campaign connecting residents to screenings, supplies and preventive services.
Over the last year, the department has also offered continued implementation of Delco Revive! by increasing community training, lifesaving supply distribution, and overdose response capacity while also strengthening data-driven monitoring and outbreak response to guide prevention strategies and protect residents from communicable diseases; and also expanded the public health kiosks.
The department is also responsible for conducting inspections, investigations and regulatory enforcement to safeguard food safety, monitor environmental hazards, respond to complaints, and prevent vector-borne disease.
The annual report stated that 83% of the department’s $11.4 million budget came from federal and state funding and that the remainder for that time period was funded through American Rescue Plan Act revenues.
“As we reflect on 2025, this report represents the dedication of our staff and partners who work every day to protect and promote the health of Delaware County residents,” county Health Director Lora Siegmann Werner said. “We remain committed to building a resilient, equitable public health system for the future.”
The full Delaware County Health Department annual report can be viewed at https://delcopa.gov/sites/default/files/2026-02/DCHD-2025-Annual-Report-Revised.pdf.
He speaks for silent Gettysburg witnesses
Greg Gober is fascinated by the living link to Gettysburg’s history – and he wants to protect the trees that stood by during the battle 161 years ago.
“Pages of history” features excerpts from The News Journal archives including The Morning News and The Evening Journal. See the archives at delawareonline.com.
March 1, 2006, The News Journal
Under plan, 59% electric rate hike to be phased in
Delmarva Power has proposed phasing in electricity rate increases to reduce the shock of a 59% price hike for residents scheduled to begin May 1.
If the proposal is approved by the state, the typical residential bill would go up slightly less than $18 a month on May 1. Then on Jan. 1, the typical bill would go up again by the same amount. On May 1, 2007, a last increase of $34 would be added, assuming no other change in the market price for electricity. …
Delmarva Power officials unveiled the proposal Tuesday as part of a response to an executive order issued last month by Gov. Ruth Ann Minner. She asked state agencies to study possible responses to the rate hike, including the option of reregulating the industry.
In 1999, state lawmakers removed controls on the price of wholesale electricity, reshaping the power market in the state. As part of the change, electricity rates were lowered by 7.5% until 2003.
Delmarva Power says the coming 59% increase is mainly caused by price hikes in the cost of the fuels that generate electricity, such as natural gas and coal.
Under deregulation, Delmarva must buy about one-third of its total power needs on the wholesale market every year. If the wholesale market is lower next year, customers could save some money. If the wholesale market is up, then rates could go even higher than they are currently expected to go….
Deregulation was expected to reduce electricity prices by bringing competition to the electric market, but only the largest power customers in the state are able to shop for power. Residents do not have a choice about who supplies their electricity.
Some lawmakers are calling for the state to reregulate the industry….
Reregulating part or all of the electricity market is unlikely to have any impact on the 59% rises in bills, experts say, but could prevent dramatic price spikes in the future….
March 3, 1976, The Morning News page
Sussex prison dilemma prompts judicial warning
If the General Assembly doesn’t do something soon about the crumbling Sussex Correctional Institution, he will, a federal judge strongly hinted yesterday.
Judge Murray M. Schwartz said he frankly hopes lawmakers will come up with the extra $1.6 million needed for a thorough overhaul of the Georgetown prison this month.
If they do, he said, it probably will “wash out” the inmates’ suit to close the prison. Schwartz is hearing the suit now, but isn’t expected to make a ruling for several months.
Should he find that the “legislature has abdicated its responsibilities [to the prison],” Schwartz warned, “then that has opened up a hole the federal court will have to fill.”
The state earmarked $2 million from a bond issue for Sussex prison renovation, but the base construction bid opened in January was $2.8 million. With alternate improvements officials want, the cost would rise to $3.4 million.
Acting Correction Commissioner Paul Keve, a defendant in the inmates’ suit, said it “looks very hopeful” that $1.6 million originally appropriated for another prison project will be reallocated to the Sussex work….
Several times yesterday, Schwartz expressed puzzlement over the state’s defense to the suit which seemed to be, “Yes, Sussex is bad, but we’re going to improve it,” the judge remarked.
The improvements are part of the defense, replied Deputy Atty. Gen. John Willard. But he said he would also contend the prison’s deficiencies aren’t an unconstitutional denial of due process or cruel and unusual punishment, as the inmates claim.
The prison’s 45-year-old main building “defeats efforts to improve it in a superficial way,” Keve said, and demands instead a “drastic, complete, comprehensive” renovation.
He said a new kitchen is most urgently needed, but the plans also call for complete replacement of the plumbing, electrical and heating systems, construction of a gymnasium, medical-dental suite and space for classrooms and group discussions.
Prisoners have complained of a lack of rehabilitation programs….
March 6, 1926, The Evening Journal
Woman, baby, dog rescued from burning home
Mary Anderson … and a year-old baby were carried from the burning house at 4 W. 12th St. in Wilmington this morning. …
The fire, which originated in the chimney of the house, caused a spectacular blaze that destroyed the roof and damaged the interior of the dwelling, and drew a large crowd.
Trolley traffic on Market Street was tied up for 20 minutes or more. Long lines of cars from the Boulevard, Washington, Shellpot and Darby lines blocked both tracks for two squares or more, owing to the lines of fire hose that were stretched across Market Street.
The fire was first discovered by Mrs. Anderson who was in the house with the year-old baby of Margaret Thomas who was at work. Smelling smoke, Mrs. Anderson went to the second floor and seeing a flame around the stove pipe hole in the chimney, threw water on it. Thinking she had extinguished the fire, she started downstairs.
In the meantime, the blaze broke out around the edge of the roof and the smoke was seen by John Wright and Stanley Pletuszka, who were in the office of the Pittsburg Independent Oil Company at 12th and Market streets.
Wright ran to the fire alarm box at 13th and King streets and turned in an alarm to which Engine Companies 1,7 and 10 and Truck Company 1 responded.
Pletuszka ran to the house where he was joined by Lloyd Smith of West 13th Street. Finding the door fastened and knowing that Mrs. Anderson and the baby were in the house, they broke down the door.
They met Mrs. Anderson coming downstairs and when an attempt was made to get her to leave, she refused, insisting that the fire was out. The rescuers had to carry the woman from the burning building, then returning they found the baby in the lower part of the house and carried it to the home of a neighbor where the baby and the woman were cared for.
Herbert Johnson, son of Mrs. Anderson of Orange Street, hearing that his mother’s home was on fire, hurried there and with other men saved practically all of the furniture in the house. A small dog, owned by Mrs. Anderson, was rescued by Johnson, but a larger dog defied the efforts of other men to take it from the house. …
The firemen prevented the spread of the fire by deluging the building with water, the chemical streams first used being found insufficient to check the fire. …
The loss is estimated at $800.
Reach reporter Ben Mace at rmace@gannett.com.
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