Lawyer for man suspected in Unity woman's disappearance wants evidence tossed in federal firearms case

Renatta Signorini, Tribune-Review, Greensburg, Pa.
·3 min read

Mar. 2—The attorney for Thomas George Stanko questioned in federal court Tuesday the reliability of a witness and police interpretation of jailhouse phone calls that led state troopers to find 17 guns on his Unity property and in a storage unit.

Attorney Komron Jon Maknoon said investigators may have misrepresented what 50-year-old Stanko, who has been linked to the disappearance of former Unity resident Cassandra Gross, said in the calls to get two search warrants approved by a judge in 2018.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Cindy Chung countered that troopers had "ample probable cause" to believe the calls were coded discussions about guns at a Unity property he owns.

"There's nothing to reflect that the trooper was reckless in summarizing the calls," she said.

Attorneys made their cases through a Zoom pretrial motion hearing that was attended remotely by Stanko, who is being held on federal weapons violations at an Ohio jail. Prosecutors claim Stanko had the guns illegally because previous felony convictions dating back to 1989 prohibit him from possessing firearms.

Gross was last seen April 7, 2018. Following her disappearance, state police were seen searching two Unity properties owned by Stanko, who has been jailed since April 2018 on unrelated charges. He has denied any involvement in Gross' disappearance. Prosecutors in Westmoreland County have said they intend to file homicide charges against him.

State police searched the White Fence Lane home and a Greensburg storage unit in August 2018 after listening to the calls Stanko made from Westmoreland County Prison, according to the search warrants.

Maknoon is seeking to bar from trial the evidence seized in both of those searches. He argued Tuesday that troopers did not present an "accurate depiction" in paraphrasing the jailhouse calls between Stanko, his mother and a girlfriend in the affidavit of probable cause used to obtain the search warrants. That could have been misleading to the judge who approved the searches, Maknoon argued.

"It just didn't jive with what the calls said," he said.

But U.S. District Judge Mark Hornak seemed to disagree. In at least one call, "the affiant underplayed what was on the calls," Hornak said.

Police said Stanko talked about a clock and Christmas decorations during the conversations, which troopers believe was code for firearms. Four of the guns were found at the White Fence Lane property and 13 more at the storage unit, police said.

Hornak will issue a ruling on the motion at a later date.

Stanko was indicted in May in Williamsport federal court for having a sawed-off .22-caliber rifle in Potter County in October 2018. His attorney in that case has filed a pretrial motion seeking to block evidence, arguing that prosecutors had no reason to believe there were firearms at his cabin there.

Gross was reported missing April 9, 2018, the same day her blind and diabetic dog, Baxter, was found wandering alone in the Beatty Crossroads area. The next day, state police found her Mitsubishi Outlander burned almost beyond recognition in a wooded area near Twin Lakes Park.

Gross would have turned 54 in May. She was declared legally dead in January 2019 by a Westmoreland County judge. State police have continued to look for evidence of Gross' whereabouts, and they classify the case as a homicide. No arrests have been made.

Baxter died in May.

Renatta Signorini is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Renatta at 724-837-5374, rsignorini@triblive.com or via Twitter .

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