Posted on 06/11/2009 4:52:50 AM PDT by Born Conservative
SCRANTON – Attorney Robert Powell thought he had a great business idea when he approached two Luzerne County judges in 2001 about building a new juvenile detention center.
The county-run facility was deteriorating, and judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella quickly agreed to support Powell’s plan for the Pa. Child Care juvenile center in Pittston Township.
What Powell didn’t know, federal prosecutors now say, was that Ciavarella and Conahan would demand to be paid for that assistance. They would collect more than $2.6 million over five years before the scheme was uncovered.
The depth of the judges’ involvement and the coercive tactics they allegedly employed are detailed in a court document the U.S. Attorney’s Office prepared in connection with a plea agreement Powell entered into Tuesday.
The document, known as a “statement of offense conduct,” also, for the first time, directly identifies local developer Robert Mericle as paying part of the kickbacks. Mericle’s company, Mericle Construction, of Wilkes-Barre, built Pa. Child Care and its sister facility, Western Pa. Child Care in Butler County.
Powell, of The Powell Law Group, P.C., Drums, has agreed to plead guilty to failing to report a felony and being an accessory after the fact to tax evasion. Prosecutors say he funneled tens of thousands of dollars to the judges and created false documents to help disguise the source of the kickbacks he and Mericle paid.
Powell’s attorneys have repeatedly insisted he was as much a victim as a participant in the scheme. The statement of offense conduct, which will be one of the documents utilized in determining Powell’s sentence, supports the attorneys’ claims that Powell was strong-armed.
It details how, from 2003 to 2008, Conahan and Ciavarella demanded and received $772,500 in kickbacks from Powell, with the payments often disguised as rental fees for docking his yacht at the judges’ condominium in Jupiter, Fla.
Prosecutors said the understanding was that the payments were a “quid pro quo” for the judges’ use of their authority, which included closing the county-run center and sending children to Pa. Child Care and Western Pa. Child Care. Powell co-owned the facilities with Gregory Zappala until last year, when he sold his interests to Zappala.
Ciavarella was aware that Powell was “making a lot of money” off the centers, and that he “had to pay for the privilege,” the document says.
“Robert Powell advised investigators that he was made to understand that had he stopped paying the judges, they would have retaliated against him and no more juveniles would have been sent to” the two centers, the document says.
The judges were so brazen that they continued to demand payment from Powell, even after they became aware of a grand jury investigation, the government’s document says.
The judges also pressured Powell into allowing his bank accounts to be utilized to funnel kickbacks Mericle paid to them, the document said.
Ciavarella had recommended Powell utilize Mericle’s company, Mericle Construction, to build the two centers. What Powell did not know was Mericle had offered a pay “finder’s fee” to the two judges for steering the contract to him, the document says.
Ciavarella directed Mericle to run the money through Powell to make it appear as though the finder’s fee had been paid to Powell. Powell felt the judges “had him over a barrel” and agreed to the demand, ultimately allowing more than $2 million in finder’s fees to pass through his accounts, the document says.
Mericle, of Wilkes-Barre, has not been charged or accused of any misconduct. Lew Sebia, chief operating officer of Mericle Development Services, did not return a phone message Wednesday seeking comment.
Al Flora and Bill Russo, attorneys for Ciavarella and Conahan, declined to comment.
The scheme began to unravel after Powell, aware that the government was investigating the judges’ finances, agreed to cooperate with authorities. He wore a wire and gathered incriminating statements.
Prosecutors say his cooperation was crucial to developing the case against Conahan and Ciavarella, who pleaded guilty in February to depriving the public of their honest services and tax evasion.
Joseph D’Andrea, of Dunmore, one of Powell’s attorneys, said Powell concedes he should have gone to authorities sooner. He stressed Powell never had anything improper in mind when he approached the judges about his desire to build Pa. Child Care.
Though Luzerne County’s commissioners had planned to build a new county facility, Commissioner Greg Skrepenak and former Commissioner Todd Vonderheid approved a $58 million, 20-year lease of the Pittston Township center in October 2004.
“It was a legitimate business undertaking for Bob, but Conahan and Ciavarella turned it into their own money machine,” D’Andrea said.
D’Andrea further stressed Powell had no involvement in the placement of juveniles at either of his facilities – a claim that is also backed up by the government’s document.
Prosecutors have alleged Ciavarella incarcerated some juveniles at the two centers, even though they had not been recommended for detention, in order to maximize its occupancy and profit.
“Powell played no role in nor was he aware of any impropriety by Judge Ciavarella in selecting juveniles for incarceration,” the document says.
Here’s a similar scheme reported today in the LA Times:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-tarzana11-2009jun11,0,6661645.story
Made me wonder why Obama doesn’t go after “excessive executive pay” at non-profits, NGO’s, etc. He says he’s appointing the Pay Czar because those companies took public money. Well, those non-profits are FOUNDED on public money. In many cases, the only reason they’re non-profit is because they pay out huge salaries to their executives and board members.
These dirtbags were on 60 Minutes not too long ago. In addition to fleecing the taxpayers, they messed up the lives of kids who were thown into Juvie Detention for pissant offenses which wouldn’t even merit probation.
Ciavarella is a Democrat.
JUDGE HOPEFUL CIAVARELLA STRESSES COURT EXPERIENCE
Times Leader, The (Wilkes Barre, PA) - Friday, April 7, 1995
Author: JIM VAN NOSTRAND; Times Leader Staff Writer
WILKES-BARRE —
“Mark Ciavarella Jr . won’t need any on-the-job training to be a Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas judge, he said Thursday.”
snip
“A registered Democrat , Ciavarella has cross-filed on the Democratic and Republican tickets for the May 16 primary.”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2172137/posts
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.