Woman under fire for blighted property claims in lawsuit she doesn’t own it, her LLC does
MOUNT CARMEL – Efforts by a local community to get a blighted school cleaned up are headed to federal court as the Philadelphia area woman they say is responsible claims she doesn’t own it, an LLC does. However, her name is on that LLC’s articles of incorporation.
Tamika Pressley, 47, of Bala Cynwyd, filed suit Feb. 20 against Mount Carmel Borough, its police force and Patrolman David Bucher, Northumberland County, Magisterial District Judges William Cole and William Zalinski and Northumberland County Jude Paige Rosini.
She alleges civil rights violations via “false criminal charges, a fraudulent docket, improper judicial proceedings, and an active warrant, all arising from a property she does not own.”
She claims that she “is being used as a pawn in [a] scheme to pressure the true property owner.”
At issue is the former Holy Cross Roman Catholic School on West Sixth Street in Mount Carmel Borough.
The school has been blighted and dilapidated for years and has been considered a safety hazard by local officials.
Charges were filed last March by Patrolman Bucher against Pressley for misdemeanor code violations, public nuisance, and disorderly conduct for the state of the property.
Those charges were bound for Northumberland County Court on June 17 after Pressley failed to appear for a preliminary hearing.
According to the Shamokin News-Item, borough council voted in September to pursue eminent domain to raze the property.
Pressley claims she is being wrongfully prosecuted and doesn’t own the property whatsoever.
Instead, she says it is owned by Chocolate Nonprofits, LLC.
“[Pressley] does not own, has never owned, and has no legal interest in the subject property,” her complaint states.
The Sentinel obtained the articles of incorporation filed on May 27, 2021 to create Chocolate Nonprofits, LLC. It lists Tamika Pressley as the point of contact.
Pressley also claims the docket itself is fraudulent, alleging the official docket sheet shows a date of Feb. 18, 2025 when “the case was not filed until June 23, 2025, over four months later.”
Court records show a case filed in Zalinski’s district courtroom on March 19, 2025 with an offense date listed as Feb. 12, 2025. The case was bound for Northumberland County Court on June 23, 2025.
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