Pittsburg, PA

Pittsburgh area defense contractor found guilty of defrauding the Pentagon

Published

1 hour ago

March 18, 2026

Pittsburgh area defense contractor found guilty of defrauding the Pentagon

March 18, 2026 / 8:44 AM EDT
/ CBS Pittsburgh

A federal jury has found a Pittsburgh area defense contractor guilty on 13 counts of violating federal fraud and tax laws.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania, 75-year-old Donald Smith was found guilty of eight charges of wire fraud and five counts of failing to file a corporate tax return.

From 2019 through 2023, evidence showed that Smith underwent a process that defrauded the Defense Logistics Agency, the department that provides material to every branch of the U.S. military.

Smith presented products to the agency and charged payments of more than $1 million dollars, but the products were not what he promised or described.

On top of the scheme, Smith also failed to file corporate tax returns reporting any of the payments his company received during that time.

The jury deliberated for approximately two hours before returning the guilty verdict. For the wire fraud counts, Smith is facing a maximum sentence of up to 20 years of imprisonment or a fine of up to $250,000. As for the tax violations, he is facing up to a year in prison on each count or a fine of no more than $100,000 or twice the gain from the offense.

He will be sentenced at a later date.

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Pittsburg, PA

Decapitated and handless body found in 1970 identified as Pennsylvania man

Published

13 hours ago

March 17, 2026

Press Room

Decapitated and handless body found in 1970 identified as Pennsylvania man

March 17, 2026 / 7:36 PM EDT
/ CBS Pittsburgh

The decapitated and handless body found in 1970 in New York has been identified as a Pennsylvania man, authorities said.

The decapitated and handless body found in 1970 in New York has been identified as Clyde A. Coppage of Pennsylvania, authorities said.

(Photo Credit: New York State Police)

In a news release, the New York State Police said the dismembered body was identified as 35-year-old Clyde A. Coppage, who was living in Genesee, Potter County, at the time of his disappearance. However, the killer remains unknown more than five decades later.

Clyde Coppage missing person case

The Pennsylvania man’s body was found on March 20, 1970, without a head or hands on Davis Hill Road in Andover, New York, authorities said.

Over the last 56 years, investigators have continued to investigate, including exhuming the body in June 2022 to collect DNA. The New York State Police said that DNA was the catalyst behind identifying Coppage. Law enforcement said the 35-year-old man was not originally from the area and had never been reported missing.

More information surrounding what led to the man’s death or who killed him remains unknown.

“The investigation into the death of Coppage remains open and active,” the new release said.

Anyone with information about Coppage or his death can contact the New York State Police at 585-344-6200.

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Pittsburg, PA

Pittsburgh’s Gecko Robotics announces $71M deal to deploy technology within U.S. Navy ships

Published

1 day ago

March 17, 2026

Press Room

Pittsburgh’s Gecko Robotics announces M deal to deploy technology within U.S. Navy ships

Pittsburgh’s Gecko Robotics has secured a $71 million contract to deploy its artificial intelligence and robotics technology within United States Navy warships.

Gecko Robotics announced the new deal Tuesday morning, saying that it will start with with 18 different ships within the Navy’s Pacific fleet.

The Pittsburgh-based robotics company’s technology is expected to help identify repairs on ships up to 50 times faster and more accurately than using manual methods, which will help reduce delays and boost overall ship readiness.

Gecko said the work will be carried out across destroyers, amphibious warships, and combat ships within the Navy fleet.

Gecko Robotics has announced a $71 million partnership with the United States Navy where the Pittsburgh-based company will use its artificial intelligence and robotics technology to help with upkeep of military assets and overall fleet readiness.

Gecko Robotics

“Readiness isn’t just a metric. It’s all that matters,” said Jake Loosararian, Co-founder and CEO of Gecko. “This growing partnership is about the unfair advantages Gecko is deploying to our Navy and how prediction, through our robotics and AI products, ensures our brave men and women are the most advantaged in the world in their fight to defend freedom. Today, we announce not a contract, but a new standard that is universal across all industries: if it isn’t ready, it doesn’t count.”

Gecko said that its wall-climbing robots, drones, and sensors can collect data on ships and submarines and identify current and future structural problems that can’t be seen by the human eye.

In a statement, Pennsylvania Senator Dave McCormick said he’s seen firsthand how Gecko is advancing Pennsylvania’s manufacturing legacy that has helped shape America’s national defense for more than 200 years.

“The partnership between Gecko Robotics and the U.S. Navy shows how engineers, researchers, and skilled tradesmen from a great Pennsylvania company are leading advances in technology, artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, and robotics and giving our military the capabilities it needs for the next generation of American defense,” Sen. McCormick said.

Gecko’s work on the first 18 ships within the U.S. Navy’s Pacific fleet is expected to take place over a five-year period.