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GREENSBURG, Pennsylvania — Brenda Sawyer, former regional director of the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office’s Region 5 Bureau of Narcotics Investigation, was arrested on Sept. 5, 2024, after an investigation revealed significant financial misconduct, according to the Westmoreland County Detective Bureau.

The investigation began in April 2024 when the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office alerted county detectives to the disappearance of funds that surfaced after Sawyer retired in February 2024. Upon taking office, Sawyer was allegedly in possession of $26,000 in agency funds intended for undercover narcotics operations. When questioned about the missing money, Sawyer claimed she may have lost or misplaced the funds and offered to cover the loss using her personal account.

A subsequent audit revealed a series of deeper financial discrepancies, including transactions linking Sawyer’s personal accounts to the missing funds. Detectives discovered that between January 2019 and February 2024, 33 checks totaling $21,973.25 were issued to Sawyer by the Bureau of Narcotics Investigation, as well as 25 other checks totaling $23,959 from the Strategic Response Team checking account. Additionally, $75,778 was allegedly stolen from eight evidence envelopes containing asset forfeiture funds.

Sawyer, who also served as the Community Violence Fund program director for the McKeesport chapter of the NAACP, is accused of forging the chapter treasurer’s signature to create a fraudulent account, from which she withdrew approximately $52,650 between 2019 and 2024.

Sawyer was formally charged with trafficking in proceeds of unlawful activity, forgery, theft, obstruction and tampering with evidence. Westmoreland County Prosecutor Nicole Ziccarelli praised the careful work of county Detective Ray Dupilka, saying, “No one is above the law and we will hold accountable those who feel emboldened to abuse their power and position of trust.”