County employee accused of conspiring with inmate boyfriend to get charges against him dropped

PITTSBURGH — An Allegheny County Court employee is accused of abusing her power to get her married boyfriend out of jail.

The suspect in the case, Jennifer Busia, is the granddaughter of former Pittsburgh Mayor Sophie Masloff.

Police said they were able to catch Busia by listening to 90 recorded jailhouse phone calls between her and her boyfriend.

Busia is facing a list of charges, including conspiracy, in connection with Danny Vasalech's child sex abuse cases.

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11 Investigates learned Busia works as a clerk in Orphans' Court and is in a relationship with Vasalech, who is still married.

According to the police report, Busia worked with Vasalech to intimidate his wife and other witnesses in his case.

Police said they tried to convince the wife that Vasalech was stabbed in jail, hoping she'd feel bad and drop the charges.

Police also said Busia is heard on a jailhouse phone call with Vasalech, promising to, "pull every string I have" within the court system.

She's also accused of saying, "Your wife needs to be put in a hole with her (expletive) mother."

According to police, the pair orchestrated the exchange of more than $90,000 in cash that was found in Busia's Carnegie home in a bedroom used exclusively for her cat. The money is presumed to be for helping her boyfriend get out of jail.

Another call captures Vasalech asking Busia "to see if you can get a hold of Judge Manning tomorrow."

She responds, "OK, sweetheart."

Channel 11 went to Busia's home to get her side of the story, but she wasn't there.

Neighbors said they saw police officers at her home this week and that she usually kept to herself.

Police said that, when Busia was questioned by police, she denied abusing her power, even after they played back the jailhouse phone calls.

Cox Media Group