Posted on 12/27/2009 8:22:42 PM PST by Born Conservative
The 23 criminal cases filed by federal prosecutors since January fall into three main categories, the courts, the schools and county government.
The school and government cases largely involve business owners who paid cash or made gifts to public officials who supported their efforts to secure government contracts awarded without competitive bidding. State law allows no-bid contracts for certain services and under some circumstances.
While two former judges accused of taking payoffs for jailing juveniles in for-profit detention centers face trial on 48 counts that carry maximum sentences of decades in prison, most of the other defendants face sentences ranging from probation to about two years in jail, based on their plea agreements and federal sentencing guidelines. Most have agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.
THE COURTS
Former Luzerne County judges Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. and Michael T. Conahan face a racketeering trial next year on charges they received $2.8 million for directing county contracts and juvenile offenders to two for-profit detention centers.
Robert J. Powell, a former owner of the centers, and Robert K. Mericle, the developer who built them, have pleaded guilty in connection with the payments and would be key witnesses at the judges' trial.
Powell's law partner, Jill A. Moran, resigned as county prothonotary and agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors in lieu of charges.
Two other former county officials who have pleaded guilty to federal charges are also potential witnesses against the judges. Former probation official Sandra Brulo has pleaded guilty to altering a juvenile court record to disguise her role in a sentence handed down by Ciavarella. Former court administrator William T. Sharkey Sr., Conahan's first cousin, has pleaded guilty to embezzling $70,000 in court funds. Both are awaiting sentencing.
County Judge Michael T. Toole has agreed to plead guilty to fixing a decision in favor of an attorney who allowed him free use of a New Jersey beach house. Toole communicated behind the scenes with the attorney and named the attorney's hand-picked choice as an arbitrator in an insurance case, prosecutors say.
Media outlets have identified the attorney as Kingston lawyer Harry Cardoni, who has not been charged.
Toole is also expected to plead guilty to failing to report a $30,000 referral fee he received from an unnamed attorney on his federal tax return. Sources have identified that attorney as Powell.
THE SCHOOLS
Former Pittston Area School District Superintendent Ross Scarantino is serving a 13-month sentence for accepting a $5,000 bribe from an unnamed district contractor.
Former Pittston Area School Board member Joseph Oliveri has pleaded guilty to accepting a $1,500 bribe from an unnamed district contractor.
Former Wilkes-Barre Area School Board member Brian F. Dunn has pleaded guilty to accepting $5,000 in 2005 for helping a prospective teacher get a job with the district.
Wilkes-Barre Area Board President Frank Pizzella Jr. is awaiting trial on charges that he brokered an almost identical deal in 2004 involving a prospective teacher and an unnamed board member. Pizzella was not a board member at the time.
Another former Wilkes-Barre Area Board member, James Height, faces sentencing in January for accepting a $2,000 bribe from an unnamed district contractor.
Height also apparently received free carpeting in his home from school district contractor Richard Emanski, whose King Glass and Paint Co. had a lucrative painting contract with the district. Emanski has agreed to plead guilty to supplying the carpeting and documents filed in his case indirectly identify the recipient as Height.
Hanover Area School Board member Anthony N. Spinozza is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to accepting at least $5,000 from an unnamed district contractor.
Former Wilkes-Barre Career and Technical Center administrator Jeffrey Piazza has agreed to plead guilty to accepting thousands of dollars in kickbacks from an unnamed school technology contractor.
Intellacom Inc., a technology firm headed by Anthony J. Trombetta, Piazza's former employer, had computer and security contracts worth $1.2 million with the school. Intellacom's contracts with three other schools have been the focus of a federal probe. Trombetta has not been charged.
COUNTY GOVERNMENT
Former county Commissioner Greg Skrepenak will likely face 33 to 41 months in prison after agreeing to plead guilty to accepting $5,000 from a developer seeking a government-subsidized loan for a project in Jenkins Township.
Former county Redevelopment Authority director Allen Bellas has agreed to plead guilty to accepting a $2,000 bribe from the same developer. Federal complaints do not name the developer, but the timing and details of the loan identify the recipient as Jenkins Township Properties Courtyards Inc., Trombetta's condominium development firm.
Former county human resources director Doug Richards has agreed to plead guilty to accepting a bribe of more than $1,000 from an unnamed county contractor. Federal officials are also exploring Richards' ties to a mysterious New York firm that had a contract to manage former county employees who worked for the county as contractors.
Former deputy chief clerk William Brace has agreed to plead guilty to accepting a $1,500 tailor-made suit from an unnamed county contractor.
Former Luzerne County Housing Authority Board members William Maguire and Gerald J. Bonner have pleaded guilty in a bribery scheme in which Bonner passed $1,400 from an authority contractor to Maguire. Bonner's attorney has identified the contractor as Michael J. Pasonick Jr., the prosperous owner of a Wilkes-Barre engineering firm. Pasonick has not been charged.
Pittston businessman Barton J. Weidlich, who has had construction and advertising contracts with county agencies, has been charged with attempting to intimidate a corruption probe witness. Weidlich appeared before a federal grand jury in September, a week after agents seized county records stored in a building he owns in Pittston. County officials say the records came from former county manager/chief clerk Sam Guesto, who has not been charged.
The remaining defendant, Karen Holly, did not work for the county, but was a billing a clerk for the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority, which operates a government-funded sewage treatment plant. Holly, a former magisterial district judge, was sentenced to two years probation for stealing $6,300 from the authority.
County of Corruption ping
ping
Luzerne County is clean in comparison to adjoining Schuylkill County. Schuylkill County is a corrupt cesspool.
Use to work in Pittston, tawdry community, also Wilksbarre. First day told of the corruption there and throughout Wilksbarre.
Everyone on the take one way or another. Hazelton too had been pretty sewed up. That was about 8 yrs ago. Police force also on the dark side.
That’s a tough one to decide. I used to live in Luzerne County, and I worked in Schuylkill County for several months. Both are beyond corrupt.
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