Robert P. Caruso was appointed as a Member of the State Ethics Commission on January 10, 2023 by the Honorable Tom Wolf, Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

 

Mr. Caruso was employed by the State Ethics Commission from 1982 until retiring in April 2022. He was the longest tenured employee in Commission history. Mr. Caruso held a number of positions with the Commission’s Investigative Division including Special Investigator, Director of Investigations and Deputy Executive Director. He was named the Commission’s Executive Director in January 2013 and served in that capacity until his retirement.

 

During his lengthy career with the State Ethics Commission Mr. Caruso successfully investigated the Commission’s highest profile conflict of interest cases that resulted in criminal prosecutions and convictions of public officials and employees at both the state and local levels of government. Mr. Caruso’s achievements include the first convictions under the State Ethics Act of public officials selling votes in return for approval of a major mall project and multiple federal convictions as a result of a state official accepting bribes in return for the award of technology grants. As executive director, Mr. Caruso oversaw the implementation of the Commission’s electronic statements of financial interests filing system and the initiation of a case management tracking system.

 

Prior to joining the Commission Mr. Caruso was employed by Clearfield County in the Office of District Attorney and as a parole officer.

 

Mr. Caruso graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a Bachelor of Science in Law Enforcement and earned a Master of Arts in Criminal Justice from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. In 2018 he received the Outstanding Alumni Award from Penn State’s Department of Criminology and Sociology. Mr. Caruso serves on the Board of Visitors for the Criminology and Sociology Department. Mr. Caruso also serves on the Board of Compliance for Vibra Healthcare.