Posted on 08/26/2009 7:51:53 AM PDT by Born Conservative
WILKES-BARRE - In the eyes of the federal courts, Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. and Michael T. Conahan became innocent men Monday afternoon.
Just hours after a federal judge refused to reconsider his rejection of the plea agreements that Mr. Ciavarella and Mr. Conahan struck with prosecutors, the two former Luzerne County judges withdrew their guilty pleas to conspiracy and fraud. The move sets the kids-for-cash case back to square one and could lead to a high-stakes corruption trial on charges that the judges conspired to aid two for-profit juvenile detention centers in return for $2.6 million in kickbacks.
The plea deals, signed in January after months of painstaking negotiation, fell apart because the two former judges failed to fully accept responsibility, according to orders issued by U.S. District Judge Edwin M. Kosik. On Monday morning, Judge Kosik rejected a last-ditch effort by the former judges to save the agreements and the 87-month prison sentences they guaranteed.
Exercising their right under the agreement to withdraw their guilty pleas if the court rejected the sentences, Mr. Ciavarella and Mr. Conahan opened themselves to possible indictment by a grand jury on additional charges that could carry decades of prison time. The two former judges could not be reached for comment.
Mr. Ciavarella's attorney, Albert J. Flora Jr., said there are no current plea negotiations in the case, but he did not rule them out in the future.
"Anytime you're involved in a criminal case, the parties are always open to negotiations. That is not to say they will necessarily occur or not occur," Mr. Flora said.
"At this point, Mark Ciavarella has not been convicted of any crime. He is entitled to the full presumption of innocence provided under the Constitution of the United States," Mr. Flora said. "Now the next step has to be taken by the government and the case will proceed accordingly."
Mr. Conahan's attorney, Philip Gelso, and the U.S. Attorney's Office declined to comment.
Judge Kosik rejected the former judges' agreements with prosecutors last month, writing that they failed to accept responsibility for the crimes to which they pleaded guilty. Judge Kosik noted that Mr. Ciavarella had made numerous public statements challenging parts of the prosecution's case and arguing there was no "quid pro quo" agreement to lodge children in the for-profit centers in return for cash. Mr. Conahan was uncooperative with federal probation officials to the point of "obstruction of justice," Judge Kosik wrote.
Prosecution and defense attorneys met privately with Judge Kosik twice to urge him to reconsider his rejection of the agreements and he refused each time.
The former judges' attorneys filed a formal motion on Thursday asking Judge Kosik to reverse his ruling on the grounds that Mr. Ciavarella's statements were aimed at correcting "confusion" and "inaccurate media reports" about his guilty plea and that Mr. Conahan was within his rights to voice his disagreement with information probation officials provided to the court.
Judge Kosik rejected both arguments Monday, denying there was any "error of apprehension" on the court's part regarding the charges against Mr. Ciavarella and agreeing with probation officials that Mr. Conahan should be expected to admit to "scandalous conduct."
Mr. Conahan and Mr. Ciavarella closed a county-owned juvenile detention center in 2003, just as a for-profit center was opening in Pittston Twp. Prosecutors alleged they helped the center and a related center in Butler County secure county contracts that earned their owners $30 million.
Since he was charged in January, Mr. Ciavarella has maintained in media interviews and statements that he was guilty only of failing to report the payments he received from the builder and former owner of the for-profit centers on his tax returns and in annual financial statements filed with the state. He repeatedly denied the payments influenced his decisions in juvenile court, where he presided for 12 years.
But federal prosecutors alleged Mr. Ciavarella adopted court procedures that created the potential for an increase in the number of juveniles lodged in the two for-profit centers and pressured probation officials to recommend detention over probation. Attorneys in civil-rights suits filed by hundreds of former defendants in Mr. Ciavarella's court have gone further, alleging Mr. Ciavarella jailed juveniles for minor offenses and failed to inform them of their right to counsel as part of a scheme to boost the centers' revenues.
A judge appointed by the state Supreme Court to review Mr. Ciavarella's cases has recommended that nearly all of the estimated 6,500 juveniles who appeared in his court in 2003-2008 have their records cleared.
The arrest of the judges also has led to challenges of their rulings in several civil suits. A Lehigh County judge named by the Supreme Court to review a $3.5 million defamation verdict Mr. Ciavarella handed down against The Citizens' Voice newspaper in 2006 has recommended that the high court order a new trial in the case. The paper's attorneys presented testimony that convicted mobster William D'Elia claimed to have intervened with Mr. Conahan, his longtime friend, to ensure a "positive outcome" for the plaintiff in the case, who was an associate of D'Elia's.
The Citizens' Voice and The Times-Tribune share the same corporate parent.
Mr. Ciavarella, 59, and Mr. Conahan, 57, remain free on bail they secured with a $760,000 Florida condominium owned by their wives. The condo was used to launder some of the kickbacks, which were disguised as rental payments, prosecutors allege.
It is unclear how the withdrawal of the guilty pleas will affect the judges' pensions. In June, the State Employees Retirement System stopped the $8,000 monthly payments Mr. Conahan had been receiving since his retirement in January 2008. Mr. Ciavarella's application for benefits after he resigned from the bench in March was denied by the state because of the guilty plea.
The former judges have appealed those decisions. Efforts to reach a retirement system spokesman were unsuccessful.
Good. These guys need to be locked up for a lot longer than 87 months. And they have no business owning expensive condos with which to secure bail. All their assets need to go to their victims.
May they spend decades in prison ping
“All their assets need to go to their victims.”
all assets, including pensions
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