The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

October 6, 2008

Aley pleads not guilty in federal gun case

By Joe Pinchot

DELAWARE TOWNSHIP — The ex-private eye convicted of hampering the probe into the disappearance of Sandra Kay Baker pleaded not guilty last week to federal charges of possession of two unregistered firearms.

Clifford S. Aley Jr., 50, formerly of Ambridge, also waived a detention hearing and agreed to be jailed until trial.

Aley possessed a short-barrel Army San Marco 20-gauge shotgun and an SWD 12-gauge Street Sweeper, a semi-automatic shotgun with a rotating magazine, between Sept. 8, 2005, and Feb. 22, 2006, in Washington County, according to court documents.

While specifics of the charges have not been released, prosecutors have said they intend to use statements Aley gave on Feb. 14; the contents of telephone calls Aley has made from jail; and the results of an Aug. 13 investigation at a storage facility.

Aley had been in the state prison serving a 22- to 60-month sentence on three counts of hindering apprehension or prosecution in the Baker case, and threatening Mercer County sheriff’s deputies and jail guards.

Aley told state police two different stories in interviews about his dealings with William T. Crea Jr., the former Delaware Township man whom police have identified as a suspect in Ms. Baker’s May 25, 2000, disappearance, police said.

Ms. Baker was living with Crea when she was last seen by him at Sheetz in Pymatuning Township, police said. Her body has not been found.

At Aley’s sentencing on the hindering charges in March 2006, Mercer County Common Pleas Court Judge Thomas R. Dobson said Aley’s lies prevented police from investigating the case more aggressively, and substantially destroyed the opportunity to bring someone to trial.

Aley had investigated Ms. Baker’s background for Crea and discovered she was still married to a Florida man while she and Crea were planning to wed, police said.

Aley told police Crea admitted strangling Ms. Baker and burying her body not far from where they were living. Crea has not been charged.

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