Posted on 08/11/2011 5:19:49 PM PDT by Born Conservative
A defiant Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. was sentenced to 28 years in prison and ordered to pay $965,000 in restitution this morning after reading a statement to the court in which he denied trading "kids for cash."
"Those three words made me the personification of evil. They made me the devil. They made me the anti-Christ. They made me toxic," Ciavarella told U.S. District Judge Edwin M. Kosik.
Ciavarella, 61, was taken into federal custody following the sentencing.
Ciavarella, while admitting to tax charges and fraud for taking nearly $1 million from the builder of a for-profit detention center, forcefully denied taking money from Robert J. Powell, a former co-owner of the center, arguing a jury acquitted him of taking money from Powell to sentence juveniles to the center.
"Bob Powell is a liar and self-centered individual who would do anything and say anything to protect himself," Ciavarella said in reference to Powell's testimony at the trial.
Ciavarella also lashed out at federal prosecutors, saying they continued to use the "kids for cash" phrase to describe his case, without proving it at trial.
He also apologized to his family, the people of Luzerne County and the county bench and bar.
"To all the juveniles who appeared before me, I would like to apologize for being a hypocrite and not practicing what I preached," Ciavarella said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Zubrod argued for a sentence that would send Ciavarella to prison "for the remainder of his natural life."
“The defendant argues he didn’t sell juveniles retail. We agree with that. He was selling them wholesale,” said Zubrod, maintaining that the jury found Ciavarella guilty of a racketeering conspiracy for being part of a scheme to extract cash from the construction and operation of the two for-profit centers.
Kosik’s courtroom was filled this morning with more than 90 people, including Ciavarella’s friends and family and former defendants in Ciavarella’s court and their supporters, who wore white T-shirts with slogans referring to the kids-for-cash case and a picture of Edward Kenzakoski III, who committed suicide several years after being incarcerated by Ciavarella
Kenzakoski’s mother, Sandy Fonzo, who has been a vocal critic of Ciavarella, said she was pleased by the verdict.
“I believe it was just,” Fonzo said. “I believe it was right.”
After the hearing, attorneys from both sides stood on the courthouse steps to address the media.
Defense attorney Al Flora Jr. said he intends to appeal several of Ciavarella’s convictions and the length of his sentence in the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals.
When prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office emerged from the courthouse, they were cheered loudly by the former defendants who had appeared before Ciavarella and their supporters.
Ping
Good. I HATE clowns.
More of a life sentence, but I get your point.
There was a father calling in to a local radio program today whose son was smoking at school, reprimanded, and then arrested (at 15) for smoking across the street at school (I think he was giving the cops some verbal abuse for arresting him). He was taken to court shackled to 4 other kids, the trial for all of then lasted less than 5 minutes, and he was sentenced to 2 years in a juvie facility. The PO told his dad not to hire a lawyer, because with Ciavarella, it would make things worse for his son.
Disgusting; he’s beyond contempt. This is exactly the kind of corruption that our Constitution, and indeed the rule of law itself, is meant to prevent.
May he rot in his cell and may Bubba make him his wife.
The 'good' judge took it from there.
Yet another reason to never, ever go to the 'authorities' to solve a family problem. They will only make things much, much worse.
He’ll walk in 5 years.
.
‘New fish! New fish! New fish! New fish!’
Maybe you havent been to prison lately, but it aint like you see in the movies. “Bubba” usually leaves you alone if you fight back. Same elementary school playground rules apply. You fight back, you gain respect.
Federal, no parole, he’ll die in jail as he should.
Of course, he’s a “D”.
Not long enough, he could survive 14 years at club fed.
The man deserves everything he gets and then some. He needs to never see daylight again and then rot in h3ll for what he did to those kids.
Adios mofo.
With any luck the 3rd will tell Ciavarella to pound sand, finding no legal irregularities in his trial. Judges this bad embarrass other judges.
I generally take a dim view of nods and winks at any system that glorifies bullying, which is the very thing that motivates many crimes and knowing torts. Not every single denizen of that place is going to be there until he dies — many will be loosed upon the streets, but with “lessons learned” that no morally good man would want to teach.
This was federal - not the in and state court. He will serve long time, assuming he lives a long time.
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