Mr. Shawn P. Ranieri

Shawn P. Ranieri, 29, of California, who was sentenced Wednesday, pleaded guilty in February to three theft counts.Prosecutors dropped a count that had alleged that he videotaped himself in a sex act with a passed-out student.

Police said Ranieri, who joined the Seton Hill basketball coaching staff in 2004, promised to provide goods or services to students, but instead used a credit card belonging to one of them and personal information to obtain cards to buy items for himself.

Ranieri was also accused of taking cash from another student and using his credit card in exchange for a promise that he would help the man's brother gain admission to a college.Authorities also alleged that he sold stolen electronic goods on campus.

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PITTSBURGH (AP) - A man charged with stabbing and strangling an elderly woman told a judge he will plead guilty to first-degree murder next week and wants the judge to decide whether he should be executed or spend life in prison.

Shawn Ranieri, an erstwhile volunteer assistant basketball coach at Seton Hill University in Greensburg, was barred from the campus and sentenced to five years' probation and repayment of thousands of dollars in restitution yesterday for scamming foreign students out of thousands of dollars and selling stolen goods.

Charges alleging he videotaped himself having sex with a passed-out juvenile student were dropped in exchange for a guilty plea.

Mr. Ranieri, 29, of Park Street, California, joined the Seton Hill coaching staff in 2004 after clearing a background check.He soon told Mehran Saif, a Bangladeshi graduate student, that he could get him a green card if he showed him his passport and ID documents and gave him $1,200.

Mr. Ranieri used the personal information to open two credit card accounts and charge $6,613 in Mr. Saif's name.
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Mr. Vegov gave Mr. Ranieri a $2,223 money order, and Mr. Ranieri put $5,870 on Mr. Vegov's credit card tab, police said.
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Mr. Ranieri was also accused of selling stolen televisions and IPods on campus.

Original charges included those stemming from a late February 2005 episode where Mr. Ranieri allegedly plied an underage male student with liquor at a Greensburg apartment, then videotaped himself having sex with his unconscious body.Mr. Ranieri pleaded guilty in February to three counts of theft.

Shawn P. Ranieri, 29, of 947 Park St., California, Washington County, appeared today before Westmoreland County Judge John E. Blahovec to be sentenced on theft charges.
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Ranieri joined Seton Hill's athletic department during the 2004-05 basketball season as an unpaid volunteer assistant coach.He was banned from campus amid allegations ranging from theft to sexual assault.

Police said Ranieri took advantage mostly of international students, promising to help them obtain green cards and get siblings into college in return for cash and their trust, which he used to establish credit accounts based on their personal information.

Police say Ranieri obtained more than $17,000 in cash and through fraudulent credit card purchases.His probation sentence will overlap with another probation sentence Blahovec ordered after Ranieri pleaded guilty to indecent assault.

Police say Ranieri gave a male student liquor.When the student passed out, Ranieri taped himself performing sexual acts on him.

Shawn P. Ranieri, 28, of 947 Park St., California, who formerly served as Monessen's tennis coach, surrendered to Greensburg police on Wednesday at the office of Magisterial District Judge James Albert.
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Ranieri joined the school's athletic department during the 2004-05 basketball season in an unpaid capacity, said Molly Robb Shimko, Seton Hill's associate vice president for institutional advancement.
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Between late September and early March, Ranieri developed bonds with three students in which he promised but failed to provide several goods or services, according to the criminal complaints.

In the cases of two international students, Ranieri earned their trust so he could borrow a credit card or create credit card accounts with their personal information, police said.He's accused of using those credit cards to make dozens of purchases at stores including Best Buy, Giant Eagle and Rent-A-Center and for payments on Internet sites.

Ranieri allegedly told a graduate student from Bangladesh he could help him receive a green card.After Mehran Saif gave Ranieri $1,200 in cash payments, Ranieri asked for Saif's passport and Social Security and visa numbers so a relative could process the green card, police said.Ranieri is accused of using the personal information to establish two credit cards to spend $6,613.74 and to withdraw $439 from one of Saif's checking accounts.

A student from Macedonia expected Ranieri to be a liaison to help his brother, a basketball player, enroll at a college in Pennsylvania, according to the criminal complaints.Leonin Vegov told police Ranieri asked for his credit card so he could enroll Dean Vegov at Penn State's online World Campus, then at Westmoreland Community College.Police said Vegov gave Ranieri $2,223 via Western Union to start the process, and Ranieri used the card to spend $5,870.17.
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Ranieri also is charged with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, a first-degree felony, because of an accusation that he fondled and sexually assaulted a male student in February after getting him drunk at the student's home.
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Ranieri sent a telephone text message to the victim on Feb. 12, according to court records.Ranieri asked the victim to participate in a business deal involving properties around California University of Pennsylvania.Ranieri allegedly gave the victim liquor, offering to invite young women to the victim's home if the victim finished bottles of Jagermeister and vodka.

After the victim passed out, Ranieri allegedly performed sexual acts on him.

The videotape surfaced when another student, who purchased a television from Ranieri, found it in a bag Ranieri gave him, police said.

In an interview last month with Vernail, Ranieri said the sexual encounter was consensual.
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Ranieri arrived at court yesterday afternoon wearing a black sweater.
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When the students' allegations were reported to campus police last month, Ranieri immediately was banned from the campus, Shimko said.
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Ranieri came to Seton Hill after a check of his references yielded favorable feedback, she said.
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Because of the allegations against Ranieri, the athletic department now requires unpaid assistants to sign a form showing they have read the handbook, Shimko said.
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The charges against Ranieri are seven counts of theft, four counts of improper use of credit cards, three counts of receiving stolen property, two counts of identity theft, and single counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, indecent assault, furnishing liquor to a minor and invasion of privacy.

Shawn P. Ranieri, 28, of Park Street, California, Pa., was arraigned yesterday on 20 charges and waived his right to a preliminary hearing.He is free on $40,000 unsecured bond.

Ranieri, who was a volunteer coach until the allegations arose, is accused of plying a male Seton Hill student with liquor, then performing sex acts with him after he lost consciousness.He videotaped the encounter, and the tape was later found by another student who bought Ranieri's television.

Ranieri told police the encounter was consensual.

Ranieri is also charged with fraud involving two international students he befriended -- one from Bangladesh, another from Macedonia.

Court documents say Ranieri told Mehran Saif, a Bangladeshi graduate student, that he could get him a green card if he shared his passport, ID documents, and gave him $1,200.Ranieri used the personal information to open two credit card accounts and charge $6,613 in Saif's name.

Ranieri likewise told Leonin Vegov of Macedonia that he could help his brother gain admission to a Pennsylvania college.Vegov gave Ranieri a $2,223 money order, and Ranieri put $5,870 on Vegov's credit card tab, police said.

Ranieri made no statement in court.

Ranieri joined the Seton Hill athletic department in 2004 after a background check came out clear.He was banned from the Greensburg campus as soon as the alleged victims contacted campus police.

Shawn P. Ranieri, 29, of 947 Park St., California, Washington County, is scheduled to be sentenced next month in Westmoreland County court.

Ranieri joined Seton Hill's athletic department during the 2004-05 basketball season as an unpaid volunteer assistant coach.He was banned from campus amid allegations ranging from theft to sexual assault.

Police said Ranieri took advantage mostly of international students, promising to help them obtain green cards and get siblings into college in return for cash and their trust, which he used to establish credit accounts based on their personal information.

Ranieri pleaded guilty to two counts of identity theft and one count of theft by unlawful taking yesterday before Judge John E. Blahovec.

Ranieri had past coaching problems
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Shawn P. Ranieri, an assistant basketball coach for two seasons at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, was relieved of his duties there because of concerns about his recruiting practices and overall professional conduct, a campus spokeswoman said.

Ranieri, a volunteer for the Seton Hill University's men's basketball team last season, was arraigned this week in Greensburg on charges he sexually assaulted an unconscious male Seton Hill student in February.Ranieri, a 28-year-old from California Borough, Washington County, also is accused of manipulating three other Seton Hill students to either obtain cash from them or rack up thousands of dollars of charges on credit cards in the students' names.

In the past few years, Ranieri served as an unpaid assistant basketball coach at Penn State Beaver for three seasons and Penn State Fayette for about two seasons, university officials confirmed.
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"I know when Shawn left, Budd was really unhappy with him."Grebb was unavailable for comment Thursday.

Ranieri could not be reached for comment yesterday.Court records list his address as 947 Park St., California.A woman at that residence yesterday refused to speak with the Tribune-Review.

Before Seton Hill approved his volunteer position for the 2004-05 season, Ranieri joined the Seton Hill Griffins after athletic officials received favorable references from a high school head coach, a parent and a police officer, said Molly Robb Shimko, Seton Hill's associate vice president for institutional advancement.
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Ranieri also claimed to have played varsity tennis at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., but Penn State officials determined that was not true, Kirschner said.
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Ranieri was at Penn State Beaver from 2001-04, serving on the staff of former head coach Ken Fusina.
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The team invited Ranieri to volunteer with recruitment, which is how Fusina met Ranieri.
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The team invited Ranieri to volunteer with recruitment, which is how Fusina met Ranieri.
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Ranieri also helped with recruiting at Penn State Fayette.

Fusina said Ranieri was a young coach who was looking for experience.
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Because of the allegations against Ranieri, the athletic department now requires volunteers to sign a form stating they have received and read the department's student-athlete handbook outlining a code of behavior.
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Ranieri has been banned from the campus.

In March 2000, when the Monessen City School District hired him as a tennis coach, Ranieri told the Valley Independent newspaper that he'd set records as a tennis player at California Area High School.
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In the article, Ranieri claimed he went to Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., to play tennis, but a knee injury ended his career.However, Liberty has no record of Ranieri completing any classes at the school, said Don Egle, director of public relations.
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Ranieri also has made two attempts at public office.He ran unsuccessful Democratic primary campaigns for California Borough Council in 1999 and 2001, Washington County election records show.

On Wednesday, Ranieri waived his right to a preliminary hearing on 20 charges in Westmoreland County.Greensburg police said he performed sexual acts on a male Seton Hill student on Feb. 12 after getting the victim drunk at the victim's home.Ranieri admitted to a detective that he'd made a videotape of the sexual encounter, but claimed he paid the victim for a consensual act, police said.

An international student reported to police that Ranieri promised to get a green card for him.Another international student told police Ranieri was acting as a liaison so the student's brother, a basketball player, could enroll at a Pennsylvania college.A fourth student alleges he gave Ranieri money for a car, flat-screen television and portable music player.He got nothing in return, police said.

In all, Ranieri accepted money or made charges on students' credit cards totaling $17,115.91, according to the criminal complaints.He's free on $40,000 in bonds.

Ranieri also faces a criminal charge in Coraopolis, Allegheny County.John Vlasic filed a private complaint after receiving a $22,000 bad check from Ranieri in December, according to court records.

I guess you gotta hand to Shawn Ranieri.If you're gonna go out, do it guns a blazin'.Ranieri, an unpaid assistant men's basketball coach with Seton Hill University - different from the better-known Seton Hall University - managed to commit fraud and sexual assault on three separate team players and one other student.

For three of the cases, two of which involve international students, Ranieri managed to convince them to give him personally sensitive information and used that to open credit cards in their names.He, of course, went on a shopping spree to the tune of more than $17,000.Ranieri is also charged with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, which is just fancy lawyer lingo for "got a college student all drunk and stupid, and then fondled and raped him while he was passed out."Oh yeah, Ranieri also videotaped the assault, which apparently made its way around Seton Hill's campus because Ranieri accidentally included the videotape as an unintended bonus with a TV that he sold to a student.Ranieri is, apparently, not the brightest bulb in the world. (Read)