Posted on 06/03/2009 12:04:30 PM PDT by Born Conservative
Reports probing Conahan and Ciavarella still not in, meaning late June, July the likely date.
WILKES-BARRE – It appears it will be at least another month before former judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella are sentenced on corruption charges.
It was initially estimated that the judges, who pleaded guilty on Feb. 12, would be sentenced in April or May. But a delay in the completion of pre-sentence investigation reports by the U.S. Probation Department has pushed that date back, said Ciavarella’s attorney, Al Flora Jr.
Flora said defense attorneys received the pre-sentence report on May 6. The defense is normally given 14 days to review the report, but Flora and Philip Gelso, Conahan’s attorney, requested and were granted an additional 30 days, said Len Bogart, chief of the U.S. Probation Department in Scranton.
That means the earliest a sentencing date could be set would be June 20, assuming the defense attorneys use the full 30 days. But Bogart said it’s more likely the date won’t be set until July because there may be disputes about information contained in the reports that must be resolved first.
Bogart and Flora stressed the delay in preparing the pre-sentence report was caused by the complexity of the investigation and does not reflect any attempt by either judge to delay the implementation of his sentence.
“Probation reports give a comprehensive history of the character, the background, the family, educational and financial history of a defendant,” Flora said. “They have a lot of information in them that we’re obligated to go over with our clients.”
Probation officials conduct a painstaking review to verify all information. That involves things like obtaining educational transcripts and financial records. An average report takes about 55 days to complete, but it can be much longer for more complex cases involving white collar crimes, Bogart said.
The reports are not public record. Bogart said he could not comment specifically on Conahan and Ciavarella’s reports, but did say they are “quite lengthy.”
Conahan and Ciavarella pleaded guilty to charges of tax evasion and depriving the public of their honest services in connection with a $2.6 million kickback scheme. Prosecutors said the judges accepted the money in exchange for rulings that benefited the owner and builder of a local juvenile detention facility. They remain free pending their sentencings.
Pre-sentence reports are utilized by federal judges to help them decide an appropriate sentence.
In Conahan and Ciavarella’s case, their plea agreements call for a sentence of 87 months, but the presiding judge, Edwin M. Kosik, is not obligated to approve that sentence. If Kosik rejects the sentence, either side could seek to take the case to trial.
How fast the sentencings occur is dependent upon whether there are any disputes regarding information contained in the reports. Those disputes could be raised by either the defense or prosecutors, Bogart said.
If either side finds errors, they will first try to resolve the matter informally with probation officials. If that doesn’t work, a written objection would be filed with Kosik, who would rule on the matter. Sentencing would not be scheduled until those issues are resolved.
These scum-bag Penn. Judges were compensated a minimum of $2.6 million by a 'friend-owned' private juvenile detention facilities if they ignored the facts and sent innocent or mischievous children to these lockups. 87 months is 7.25 years for these CHILD ABUSERS and off the top of my head I think that the sentence is too light. I would take like to see them and their prison-owning friend put into the 'open population' of a medium security prison and wait for the prison grapevine to hang them.
SCUM OF THE EARTH!
Holy crap, that’s absolutely disgusting.
Many other threads on FR on these 2 POS’s; keyword “ciavarella”, “conahan”, or “luzernecounty”.
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