Posted on 06/04/2009 1:34:43 AM PDT by Born Conservative
WILKES-BARRE – The tipstaff for Luzerne County Judge Michael Toole was served a subpoena by the federal agents investigating corruption within the county, two sources familiar with the investigation said Wednesday.
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Tom Marino was served the subpoena at the courthouse on Monday. The sources did not know what information is being sought or to which investigation the subpoena is related.
Contacted at the courthouse on Wednesday, Marino declined to comment on whether he had been subpoenaed.
“I’m not saying it did happen. I’m not saying it didn’t happen,” Marino said during a break in a criminal trial over which Toole was presiding.
Marino has served as Toole’s tipstaff since the judge took the bench in 2004. A tipstaff is a judge’s assistant who oversees juries, organizes court matters and assists the judge with other procedures. Toole did not respond to a message seeking comment. The message was left with Marino.
The subpoena is the latest among a series to be served upon several county, court, school and college officials by federal agents as part of an ongoing corruption probe.
Toole has not been accused of any wrongdoing. But one of the sources who confirmed the subpoena was issued on Marino said federal authorities have been investigating Toole for several months.
The source said authorities are looking into Toole’s relationship with Butler Township attorney Robert Powell, who is one of two people who admitted paying kickbacks to disgraced former judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan.
The source said authorities are investigating whether a payment Toole allegedly received from Powell was for legitimate purposes. The source could not say how much money was involved.
Allegations that Toole had received a payment from Powell were first reported in March in the Legal Intelligencer, a Philadelphia-based law journal, which quoted unnamed sources.
Powell has not been charged with any crime. Contacted Wednesday, Powell’s attorney, Mark Sheppard of Philadelphia, said he could not comment on whether Powell paid Toole any money.
“Mr. Powell is continuing to cooperate in all aspects of the federal investigation. Other than that I’m not at liberty to discuss any details concerning that cooperation,” Sheppard said.
U.S. Attorney Martin Carlson also declined comment, citing his office’s policy not to comment on matters that “may or may not” be under investigation.
Carlson’s office has been conducting an exhaustive investigation of corruption within the county judicial and school systems that to date has led to charges against seven people.
Toole is known to have personal or professional relationships with several of the people and public entities that have been the focus of the corruption probe.
Toole has said he is friends with Ciavarella, who along with Conahan pleaded guilty in February to charges of tax evasion and depriving the public of their honest services.
Toole acknowledged he was a guest in 2006 at a condominium in Jupiter, Fla., owned by the wives of Ciavarella and Conahan. Prosecutors say that condo was used to conceal part of the kickbacks Ciavarella and Conahan accepted from Powell and the other person.
Toole’s relationship with Powell was previously questioned after it was revealed he had issued a court ruling in 2004 that blocked a marina association from terminating Powell’s lease of a dock at the Jupiter Yacht Club.
Attorneys for the marina had questioned whether Toole had jurisdiction to issue the ruling, given that the dispute involved parties located in Florida. The case was later resolved informally between the association and Powell.
Several people who know Toole have said he is also friends with Brian Dunn, the Wilkes-Barre Area School Board member who was charged in April with accepting bribes in exchange for the awarding of contracts and teaching jobs. Toole had served as solicitor for the school district for many years before he took the bench in 2004.
Federal authorities, acting at the direction of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, previously served a subpoena on the county prothonotary’s office seeking all case files involving the appointment of neutral arbitrators in uninsured motorist insurance cases.
Attorneys for insurance companies have raised questions regarding whether certain judges were prone to appoint arbitrators who were biased in favor of plaintiffs.
Federal agents took 79 case files. A review of those records showed that Conahan and Toole were assigned to most of those cases, 18 and 17, respectively.
Toole’s ruling in one of those cases was questioned after an attorney for the insurance company learned Toole had failed to reveal he once had a financial relationship with attorney John Nardone, who represented the plaintiff.
Attorney Michael Blazick filed a motion in April that asked Toole to recuse himself from ruling on any further matters in the case of Charles Davis versus Hartford Insurance. Hartford is attempting to overturn a $2.9 million arbitration award in Davis’ favor. Blazick said Wednesday Toole has not yet ruled on that motion.
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