Posted on 01/27/2009 6:28:02 AM PST by Born Conservative
Allegations are that Ciavarella, Conahan took $2.6M in kickbacks in exchange for judicial rulings regarding detention centers.
SCRANTON – For more than a decade, Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan served on the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas, developing reputations as hard-working judges.
On Monday, federal prosecutors revealed the longtime jurists were allegedly working equally hard behind the scenes on a far less noble endeavor – enriching themselves at the expense of the public and juveniles who appeared in Luzerne County Court.
They did so in the form of kickbacks -- $2.6 million worth – that U.S. Attorney Martin Carlson said were paid to the judges by two unnamed people in exchange for favorable judicial rulings regarding the PA Child Care juvenile detention center in Pittston Township, and its sister facility, Western PA Child Care in Butler County.“This is a sad event when individuals who took an oath violate that oath and violate the law,” Carlson said at a Monday afternoon press conference at the federal courthouse where he announced charges of conspiring to defraud the IRS and devising a scheme to defraud taxpayers of their honest services had been filed against the jurists.
Carlson said Ciavarella, 58, and Conahan, 56, have signed plea agreements that call for them to serve 87 months in prison and to pay a yet-to-be-determined amount of restitution.
The judges have also agreed to resign from office within 10 days after the court accepts their pleas, and will immediately be disbarred from practicing law. Ciavarella resigned as president judge on Friday.
The maximum combined penalty for the two offenses was 25 years in prison and up to $500,000 in fines. Carlson said he believed the plea deal that was worked out serves justice.
The charges stem from a more than two-year investigation by the FBI and IRS that uncovered a “flagrant violation of public trust,” said Leslie DeMarco, special agent in charge of the IRS criminal investigation unit.
“They sold their oath of office to the highest bidders and engaged in an ongoing scheme to defraud the public,” Deron Roberts, chief of the FBI’s Scranton office, said at the news conference.
The 22-page complaint details an elaborate scheme the judges developed to ensure PA Child Care, then owned by Butler Township attorney Robert Powell and Gregory Zappala, prospered financially. Gregory Zappala is the son of former Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Stephen A. Zappala.
According to the complaint:
Conahan removed funding for the county-operated juvenile center on River Street in Wilkes-Barre in 2002, ensuring its closure. The county began sending youths to PA Child Care when it opened in February 2003.
Just prior to its opening, Conahan signed a “placement guarantee agreement” with the facility that guaranteed the courts would pay an annual rental installment of $1.3 million.
Ciavarella, the county’s longtime juvenile court judge, helped ensure PA Child Care had a high occupancy rate by, at times, ordering children be detained there even when the juvenile probation department felt it was not necessary.
Ciavarella did that in part by establishing a “specialty court” that created a potential for an increased number of juveniles to be sent to PA Child Care.
The judges’ actions assisted the two juvenile centers in securing agreements with Luzerne County that were worth “tens of million of dollars” for the placement of juvenile offenders, the complaint says.
The complaint also describes how two others involved in the scheme – identified as “participant 1” and “participant 2” – funneled money to the judges by disguising the payments as a “broker fee” or as falsely portraying them as rental payments for a Florida condominium.
Carlson would not identify the two participants, but details contained in the complaint indirectly identify them as Powell and Robert Mericle of Mericle Construction, the contractor who built both the PA Child Care and Western PA Child Care facilities.
The complaint notes that in June 2000, Ciavarella had a conversation with a Luzerne County attorney “who was interested in constructing a juvenile detention facility” in the county. Ciavarella then introduced that person to a contractor, a friend of Ciavarella who was later hired by that attorney to build the center.
The complaint also notes several transfers of funds that were made by Mericle Construction and Vision Holdings, a company owned by Powell, that prosecutors contend were made to conceal payments to Conahan and Ciavarella.
No charges have been filed against Mericle, Powell or Zappala. Asked if any more charges were forthcoming, Carlson would only say the investigation is continuing.
Powell could not be reached for comment Monday. In prepared statements, Mericle and Zappala, who bought out Powell’s interest in the centers last June, denied any criminal activity.
“At no time did Robert Mericle or Mericle Construction ever make any payment to influence a decision to secure a contract to build any PA Child Care facility,” said Lew Sebia, general counsel for Mericle Construction. “Mr. Mericle has cooperated with authorities with respect to this investigation and will continue to do so in the future without exception.”
William Brucker, attorney for PA Child Care, said Zappala did not have “any knowledge whatsoever of the actions” described in the complaint.
“I can confirm only that no charges have been brought against the companies or its principal owner, Gregory Zappala, and that none are anticipated,” Brucker said.
Ciavarella’s attorney, Al Flora, of Wilkes-Barre, said Ciavarella and Conahan also dispute some of the allegations contained in the complaint.
“The information you have before you constitutes the government’s allegations. It is not an admission to all those allegations,” Flora said.
Flora explained the plea agreement is a “conditional plea.” The precise facts that Ciavarella and Conahan will admit to will not be known until they actually appear before a judge to enter their pleas, Flora said. No date has been set for that hearing.
At the time the judges appear in court, the U.S. Attorney’s Office will have to recite evidence in support of the various allegations, Flora said. Ciavarella and Conahan would then have to decide whether to admit to those particular facts, he said.
Flora said Ciavarella will not admit to all of the information included in the complaint. If the government presents facts in support of each of those allegations, Ciavarella will not agree to enter the plea, he said.
“I can tell you, Judge Ciavarella will not admit to every one of those allegations,” Flora said.
Flora said he is also speaking on behalf of Conahan, who is represented by attorney Philip Gelso. He said he believes Conahan also will not admit to all of the allegations contained in the complaint.
It was not clear Monday whether the case will be heard by a judge sitting in Scranton, or be transferred to a jurist within another section of the Middle District, such as Harrisburg or Williamsport. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Zubrod.
Conahan and Ciavarella will remain free pending their court appearances. Asked why the judges were not immediately taken into custody, Carlson said it is standard procedure to allow anyone charged with a “white-collar crime” such as this to remain free until they are summoned to enter the plea in court. He stressed that all proceedings involving the judges will be public.
“While some might wish for a moment of high drama, that sort of perp walk … justice requires us to deal with these defendants like we would every other defendant in a similar situation,” he said.
Stressing the investigation is continuing, Carlson called upon anyone who may have further knowledge relating to the case to contact the FBI or IRS.
The worst part of this whole thing is that Ciavarella, who closed the county juvenile facility, sentenced kids against the recommendation of Probation Officers, to time in one of 2 juvenile detention facilities in which both he and Conahan had a financial interest.
Ping
Democrats?
“I can tell you, Judge Ciavarella will not admit to every one of those allegations,” Flora said.”
Well, by golly, let’s calibrate the punishment as exactly as possible, shall we? Maybe the judges only took smaller smount of bribes and thus shouldn’t be punished so heavily.
Of course!
Ciavarella donated money to a Democrat candidate.
The courts are corrupt beyond repair. The Bar Associations have also become part of the problem. Bribes, extortion and blackmail are a way of life for most lawyers.
I can’t wait for these liberal newspapers, which attempt to even make up stuff on Republicans, to go bankrupt.
That the whole article didn’t even once mention the judges’ political affiliation is a sham.
Do not support this liberal rag with a subscription.
Who do they think they are, Wall Street executives?
“participant 2”???
(no links)
COUNTY’S FLIP-FLOP PROPERTY DEAL STINGS TAXPAYERS
Times Leader, The (Wilkes Barre, PA) - Friday, May 18, 2001
Author: STEVEN A. MORELLI
WILKES-BARRE - A previous owner of Penn Place offered the building to Luzerne County for at least $600,000 less than the county eventually paid for it.
County commissioners twice rejected the offer from Allen E. Ertel before he sold the building to Robert Mericle for $1.8 million on Nov. 29, 1999, Ertel said. On Dec. 31, 1999, the county agreed to buy the building from Mericle for $2.48 million. It intends to move several courthouse offices there.
Ertel said he approached each of the commissioners - Tom Makowski, Frank Crossin and Joseph ``Red’’ Jones - at the time, but was told the county had no use for the building .
County Chief Clerk Jim Torbik said Thursday he was not aware of Ertel’s offer and would ask Makowski about it, but he did not get back to a reporter.
``I would have sold it to the county for less than I sold it to Mericle ,’’ said Ertel, a former U.S. congressman. ``They (the commissioners) said they didn’t need it.’’
But the county was interested in using the building for offices since Jan. 14, 1998, if not before. That was before Ertel owned it, and when the county signed an agreement promising the Northeast Pennsylvania Building and Construction Trades Council that union workers would be used to refurbish the building.
(snip)
..
INDUSTRIAL PARK GETS AID/ COMMISSIONERS GIVE 10-YEAR TAX BREAK ON BUILDINGS AND AGREE TO MAINTAIN ROADS.
Times Leader, The (Wilkes Barre, PA) - September 29, 2005
Rob Mericle needed two more things to proceed with his plan to invest $120 million of his own money building a new industrial park on mine-scarred land in Jenkins Township: government maintenance of roads and a 10-year tax break on the new buildings he constructs. Luzerne County Commissioners Todd Vonderheid and Greg Skrepenak granted both Wednesday night during their on-the-road meeting in Sugarloaf Township ...
(snip)
..
Citizen’s Voice, The & Sunday Voice (Wilkes-Barre, PA) - Thursday, January 11, 2007
Lohman leaves chamber, accepts position with Mericle
BY JAMES CONMY
STAFF WRITER
01/10/2007
A senior vice president at the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry, who spearheaded the development of several major projects in the region, is leaving the non-profit organization.
Frederick A. Lohman, 53, submitted his resignation late Monday after accepting a position with Mericle Commercial Real Estate Services. The Edwardsville resident joined the chamber as a business manager in 1987. Lohman’s primary focus at the chamber has been developing, financing, managing and planning real estate development.
(snip)
..
News
Standard-Speaker (Hazleton, PA) - Thursday, December 20, 2007
Author: MICHAEL P. BUFFER
Staff Writer
WLIKES-BARRE — Luzerne County commissioners are set to approve a brokerage deal with Mericle Commercial Real Estate Group Inc. to market and sell county land.
Mericle ’s fee would be 6 percent of the price of property sold. The county’s proposed budget for 2008 includes $6.3 million in revenue from land sales.
The county owns about 80 acres in Plains Township and 530 acres in Butler Township, and county officials hope to sell some of that land. This year’s budget included $4.5 million in revenue from land sales, but the county was unable to close any property deals this year without a broker.
The commissioners plan to approve the Mericle brokerage deal at Friday’s meeting. Stephen A. Urban, the Republican minority commissioner, said he would not vote for the Mericle deal unless he sees proposals submitted by other companies.
The county commissioners on May 21 approved a motion to issue a request for proposals or qualifications for land-development and property-management services.
County officials on Wednesday did not respond to questions about submitted proposals for the requested service. County Public Information Officer Kathy Bozinski said county leaders were busy Wednesday dealing with budget matters.
Mericle President and CEO Robert K. Mericle contributed $11,000 in August and September to the campaign committee of Greg Skrepenak and Maryanne Petrilla. On Nov. 6, Skrepenak and Petrilla were elected Democratic majority commissioners.
(snip)
Judges frequently go with non-partisan or “decline to state” voter registrations. That might be the case here.
“All four candidates — Ciavarella, and attorneys Joseph Yeager, Tom Cometa and Joseph Giovannini Jr. — ran as Democrats with cross endorsements from the Republican Party.”
(no link)
CARGO DEAL MAKES FOR FAMILIAR BEDFELLOWS
Times Leader, The (Wilkes Barre, PA) - Saturday, February 3, 2007
Author: STEVE MOCARSKY smocarsky@timesleader.com
Removing some air traffic from a congested web of flight paths in the Northeast is a potential benefit of a cargo airport recently proposed for the Hazleton area.
But another web - one of political connections and deals - links some of the players involved in the $1.6 billion airport proposal made public on Wednesday by project developer Gladstone Partners, L.P. and state and county officials.
The identity of the principals of Gladstone Partners was revealed Wednesday at the airport presentation in Hazle Township. They include former Hazleton Mayor Michael Marsicano and attorneys Robert J. Powell and Gregory Zappala .
Powell has ties with both Marsicano and Zappala .
Long-time ties
Powell , a former Luzerne County solicitor, was city solicitor for Marsicano in the late 1990s. A former commercial airline pilot, Marsicano first proposed a Hazleton-area cargo airport while he was mayor.
Powell was a partner with Zappala in PA Child Care, LLP, the company that was awarded a 20-year, $58 million lease on a juvenile detention center in Pittston Township by majority county commissioners in 2003. The land is owned by developer Robert Mericle .
Mortgage documents for the detention center - on which construction began even before a lease was approved - named Powell as president of a Cayman Islands company connected to the project.
Zappala first proposed the detention center deal to the commissioners in July 2001. Then-majority commissioners Tom Makowski and Tom Pizano saw the deal as a replacement for the existing center, which was deteriorating badly.
Mericle had made donations to the election campaign of Pizano and Makowski.
Zappala had contributed $500 to attorney Jill Moran’s campaign for prothonotary. Moran, the current prothonotary, is a partner in the Powell law firm.
Zappala ‘s brother, Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala , was part of the Brucker, Zappala , Schneider and Porter law firm that donated $1,250 to the joint election campaign of Makowski and Frank Crossin.
Powell and his firm had contributed $12,400 to the campaigns of Democratic majority county commissioners since 1995 and had been paid more than $150,000 for county legal work.
At the time of the proposal, minority Commissioner Stephen A. Urban called the detention center lease “a sweetheart deal” that would put an unnecessary burden on taxpayers.
State auditors in 2004 called the lease “a bad deal” for the county, claiming that PA Child Care collected the highest rates in the state, overcharged the county more than $280,000, and reaped more than $1 million in profits in 2003 because county officials were ineffective negotiators.
Court goings-on
Others connected to the detention center lease have resurfaced in connection with the airport proposal.
Moran is representing Gladstone in a court battle with Overland Enterprises, the owner of Paragon Adventure Park. The popular recreational park leases land the group needs to build the airport.
PCA Corp. owns the property.
(snip)
I would think that Mericle is Participant 2.
His company is a major player in the area with commercial real estate. I always thought it odd that they came out of nowhere; all of a sudden, their signs seemed to pop up out of nowhere at commercial properties that were for sale.
In PA, judges can cross file, which is what the majority of them do. Unless you research it, you wouldn’t know which party they were in when looking at the ballot.
This judge should be tarred and feathered, and then strung up by his jewels for doing this to troubled kids who were not necessarily bad enough to be sent there.
Let’s hope this is carried out and that there isn’t a loophole somewhere.
“Act 140 is triggered if a retirement system member is convicted of, pleads guilty to or pleads no defense to any listed crime committed through the member’s public office or position or when public employment puts the member in a position to commit the crime, according to materials published by the retirement system.
The act requires forfeiture of all pension and retirement benefits if the retirement system member commits certain crimes “that breach the member’s duty of faithful and honest public service.”
Also forfeited are any benefits for the member’s beneficiaries and survivors.”
Just the beginning. There will be indictments of judges all over the US.
List of US Attorneys Offices for information regarding crimes committed during the 2008 Election;
http://drorly.blogspot.com/2009/01/us-attorneys-offices-for-you-to-visit.html
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