Former Bucks County Playhouse Owner Sentenced To Jail

The former owner of the Bucks County Playhouse has been sentenced to 2 ½ years in prison after being convicted of fraud and money laundering.

Ralph Miller was found guilty of the charges by a federal jury in May. In addition to the prison sentence, Miller must pay $239,875 in restitution and serve three years of supervised release, including one year of home confinement, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

Prosecutors said Miller claimed more than $200,000 in fraudulent insurance payments after a flood devastated the playhouse in 2006.

It was not the first property of Miller’s to be destroyed. Three theaters owned by Miller were destroyed by fires, which have been labeled suspicious or suspected arson, according to multiple reports. Those theaters include: the Woodstock Playhouse in New York, which burned down in 1988; the Falmouth Playhouse in Massachusetts, which burned in 1994; and the Pocono Playhouse in Pennsylvania, which burned down in 2009.

Miller owned the Bucks County Playhouse for more than three decades before defaulting on more than $2 million in mortgages, NJ.com reported. Miller’s defense attorney was Newtown-based lawyer Louis Busico.

The Bucks County Playhouse, which originally opened in 1939, is now owned by Kevin and Sherri Daugherty. The couple renovated it and reopened the theatre in 2012.

The playhouse is located on the Delaware River in New Hope.