$250,000 cash bail set in baby's death

Freedom for a 19-year-old Drexel Hill woman accused in the suffocation of her newborn came with a hefty price yesterday: $250,000 cash.

In setting bail and ordering electronic home monitoring for Mia T. Sardella, Delaware County Judge Patricia F. Jenkins said she wanted to ensure that the amount reflected the "seriousness of the charges."

She said she also recognized that Sardella "apparently does have a family with significant assets." Jenkins also approved a gag order requested by Sardella's attorney.

Sardella, who was scheduled to be released late yesterday or today, is the granddaughter of Joan and Albert E. Piscopo, who is chief executive of the Glenmede Trust Co., an investment firm that manages the assets of the Pew Charitable Trusts and other high-end clients.

Sardella was charged Tuesday with offenses including first-degree murder and desecration of a corpse. Police said Sardella, a former Drexel University student, gave birth to a boy Jan. 1 while home on holiday break.

Prosecutors allege the child was alive at birth and died of asphyxiation before Upper Darby police found him. In addition to hiding her pregnancy, police said, Sardella concealed the corpse, stuffing it in a tote bag that she placed in the trunk of her mother's Volkswagen Beetle.

Sardella appeared via teleconference from Delaware County prison. Wearing orange prison garb, she began to sob - eventually resting her head in her hands - as defense attorney Arthur T. Donato Jr. read a list of almost 20 relatives and friends present in court.

They included Sardella's mother and grandparents; her stepfather, Craig Leone; her father, Daniel Sardella; her aunt, Michele Piscopo; and her uncle, Albert E. Piscopo Jr. Many responded tearfully to Sardella's obvious distress.

In arguing for bail, Donato stressed that Sardella and her family had lifelong ties to Delaware County, and that Sardella had never been in trouble before.

"Bail is appropriate. She is not a threat to herself or anyone else," he said. "This has been a terrifying experience for her."

Sardella dropped out of Drexel, where she was a communications major, several weeks ago "because she struggles with this situation every day," Donato said.

He said she had been receiving counseling and would continue to do so if granted bail. A prison evaluation showed that she was not a suicide risk, Donato said.

Deputy District Attorney Michael Galantino acknowledged the family's support but said the commonwealth opposed bail, pointing out that Sardella had repeatedly failed to confide in her relatives.

"This defendant committed these acts while she was home" and family members were upstairs, he said. "This child struggled to breathe and was prevented from doing so."

Jenkins asked for specifics on the supervision Sardella would receive at home, and Donato said Sardella would live with her grandparents.

"I am home all day," Joan Piscopo said.

Donato added that Albert Piscopo had a flexible schedule and could be home "at a moment's notice."

"Absolutely," Piscopo responded.

After setting the bail conditions, which included forfeiture of Sardella's passport, the judge signed an order that says "all parties" are not to make any public statement "the substance or tone of which is likely" to interfere with a fair trial.

Citing the gag order, John Reilly, acting superintendent of the George W. Hill Correctional Facility, said he could not say last night whether Sardella had been released. However, he said electronic home monitoring generally took more than a day to set up.

The district attorney did not oppose the gag order. Donato declined to comment on what had prompted his request.

The order came after Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael J. Chitwood last week publicly suggested that Albert Piscopo's influence was affecting the handling of the case.

Chitwood, asked whether he believed it was directed at him, said: "I can't say it was. No one ever said it was directed at Mike Chitwood."

After Jenkins' decision, Sardella's family and friends left the courtroom, leaving their seats littered with tissues.