Former Pennsylvania judges face more indictments over scandal
From Sunshine Review
September 10, 2009 Former Luzerne County, Pennsylvania judges Michael T. Conahan and Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. face indictments Wednesday on 48 counts that could carry a maximum sentence of decades in prison.[1]
[edit] Charges
The plea agreements that the judges were discussing collapsed, but they would have sent them to jail for 87 months on two counts. Now they are charged with racketeering, fraud, money laundering, extortion, bribery and tax violations for allegedly accepting $2.8 million from the owner and builder of two for-profit juvenile detention centers that made millions from county contracts with the judges’ help, read a U.S. Attorney’s Office press release.
The U.S. Attorney's Office did not make actual indictment public after it was handed down the evening of September 9, 2009 in Harrisburg. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Heidi Havens, said the indictment will likely be posted September 10.[1]
[edit] Early 2009
In January, Ciavarella, 59, and Conahan, 57, were charged with fraud and conspiracy in a scandal that has become known as the kids-for-cash scandal. They were charged through an information, which is a document prosecutors file when defendants agree to plead guilty and waive indictment by a grand jury. Such plea agreements typically lead to prosecutors forgoing some charges that could have been filed in the case.
In February, the judges pleaded guilty under the agreements that called for 87-month prison terms. A federal judge rejected their agreements in July and the judges subsequently withdrew the pleas. The judge that rejected the agreements ruled that the sentences were too lenient for the judges to fully accept responsibility.
Wednesday’s indictment may lead to a trial or a new round of plea negotiations.[1]
[edit] Accusations
The two have been accused of accepting illegal payments from two people related to two juvenile detention centers in Pittston Township and Butler County.
Attorney Robert J. Powell, 49, is a former co-owner of the centers and has admitted to paying $770,000 to the judges. Powell pleaded guilty to failing to report a felony and abetting a conspiracy.
He now faces a maximum of 5½ years in prison, but is more likely to serve 21 to 27 months. Apparently, he secretly recorded conversations he had with the judges, as federal investigators requested.
Federal prosecutors say the wealthy developer who built both detention centers, Robert K. Mericle, paid the two judges more than $2 million. Mericle faces up to three years for failing to report a felony, but could face probation or a several month prison sentence under a plea agreement.[1]
[edit] Repercussions
The scandal has sparked a corruption probe that has led to charges against four public school officials, two high-ranking county court officials, a county jury commissioner and a billing clerk at public sewage treatment facility.
A Berks County judge has recommended that the high court clear the records of every juvenile that Ciavarella sentenced between 2003 and 2008, which is about 4,500 to 6,500 cases. The state Supreme Court appointed the judge who recommended this to review Ciavarella’s tenure as the county’s juvenile court judge.[1]
[edit] External links
- Luzerne County website
- U.S. Attorney's Office, Middle District of Pennsylvania website
- United States of America v. Mark Ciavarella, Jr. and Michael Conahan information
[edit] References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "Judges face new charges in kids-for-cash scandal," Standard Speaker, September 10, 2009
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