Posted on 02/15/2011 3:31:27 PM PST by Born Conservative
SCRANTON - Mark Ciavarella admitted he pocketed up to $20,000 from donations to his retention campaign in 2005. About 15 minutes later, Ciavarella's attorney William Ruzzo finished a brief redirect and Judge Edwin Kosik closed the testimony for the day.
The admission came after Ciavarella admitted he had recieved business deals through Robert Powell that the average person could not get. He conceded he e had received half ownership in a Florida condo without paying a penny, and that he got involved in W-Cat, a business promising him up to $300,000, without paying any money.
Ciavarella said he had to be among several people who guaranteed a $4.5 million loan to W-Cat, but that he knew there was no way he could afford to pay the loan if required to.
Asked if the condo was "a pretty good deal" that the average person could not expect, Ciavarella said yes. Asked the same question about the W-Cat deal, he said yes again.
U.S. Assistant Attorney William Houser pointed out that in both cases, the deals were with Bob Powell at the same time Ciavarella was sending children to a juvenile detention faiclity Powell owned.
Ciavarella countered that he and Michael Conahan put $600,000 into the condo from 2003 to 2007, and wouldn't have had to put "a dime into it" if Powell had paid the full rent he originally promised. He also said he could lose everything if forced to repay the W-Cat Loan. The loans are in default.
When Ruzzo got a chance to redirect, he asked Ciavarella why he had not reported money received from Mericle, and Ciavarella said it was "not becasue it was illegal. i did not want the publicity and did not want the scrutiny
"I did the wrong thing. It wasn't because I got a kickback or bribe," Ciavarella said. The defense has insisted from the outset that if the jury does not believe a bribe or kickback was paid to Ciavarella, the rest of the prosecution's case falls apart.
"I just wanted to avoid all of this." Ciavarella said. "How'd I do?"
2:44 p.m.
SCRANTON - Mark Ciavarella testified his family spent more than $300,000 before he even got his first finder's fee from Robert Mericle in 2003, and that he spent more than $400,000 through 2003, So he didn't have money to invest in a Florida condo in February, 2004. Yet Ciavarella said he knew he would be involvd in the condo because Michael Conahan had told him Robert Powell would pay $900,000 in rent for 16 months for a condo that cost less than $800,000
Ciavarella said he knew the finder's fee from Mericle was coming and he took cash adances on credit cards to pay debts.
Noting that the finder's fee would not come if Powell and Mericle did not build PA Child are, Houser said "So it was even more important to you that the facility got built."
"No,"Ciavarella said it meant once the facility was built he would have money to pay off his debt.
"You're family spent alot of money," Houser said.
"It appears that way," Ciavarella said, evoking some chuckles. But Houser pressed, and after being asked a third time, Powell said "yes."
Earlier, Powell admitted money was paid to Pinnacle Group, the company owning the condo, in order to hide the fact that he recieved money from Robert Powell and Robert Mericle in relation to construction of the private juvenile detention facility Powell co-owned. U.S. Assistant Attorney William Houser said "You knew that wouldn't look good."
"No it wouldn't, Ciavarella responded.
"You were a juvenile judge sending juveniles to Robert Powell's detention center."
"Yes sir," Ciavarella responded.
"You were hiding the fact you were receiving commissions," Houser said.
"Absolutely correct" Ciavarella said.
2:08 p.m.
SCRANTON - Under repeated questioning, Mark Ciavarella said Michael Conahan had proposed paying him $480,000 as "a loan," and that Conahan said he would pay the taxes on the money. "That's why I didn't pay taxes," Ciavarella said. "I might be dumb but I'm not stupid."
Ciavarella said he knew he couldn't hide receiving that much money in his account.
The statement came after U.S Assistant Attorney William Houser grilled Ciavarella as to his belief the money from Robert Mericle was legal. Ciavarella repeated his claim he believed it was legal because Mericle told him it was. Houser pointed out Ciavarella had been Mericle's attorney and a judge, then asked "When did you start toturn to Robert Mericle for legal advice?"
Houser also pressed Ciavarella on why he didn't have the money paid directly to him. "Every penny of that money, you and Michael Conahan took steps to conceal," Houser said, which Ciavarella confirmed. Houser continued "But you thought it was legal money?" "Yes" ciavarella answered.
When Houser asked why Ciavarella "put Michael Conahan in charge of directing where the money was going," Ciavarella replied "Because he had the business background and knew how to set these things up."
Houser then asked why he needed someone with business background or who could "set things up," and Ciavarella backtracked slightly, saying it wasn't Conahan's business background necessarily, then said what he had said previously. "If it was legal money, it didn't matter how it got to m, just so it got to me."
SCRANTON - U.S. Assistant Attorney William Houser for the second time used a transcript from a 2009 civil trial to show Mark Ciavarella's testimony today contradicts what he said then.
Asked if he knew the date he was told by Robert Mericle that he would get a finder's fee for helping Mericle land the job of building PA Child Care, Ciavarella said he didn't recall. Houser than referred to the transcript form 2009, in which Ciavarella was asked the same question and said he believed it was in April, 2009.
Houser also tried to show that Ciavarella was contradicting himself regarding which courtroom he was assigned to when he learned of the finder's fee. Ciavarella has said he was on the second floor of the Luzerne County Courthouse where there is only one courtroom, and that he had to walk up the steps to tell Michael Conahan about the finder's fee. But in the 2009 testimony Ciavarella said he walked "over to" Conahan's office, not "up to."
The distinction is important because the Houser noted that would mean Ciavarella learned of the finder's fee when he was assigned to the third floor, not the second floor, which would change the date it happened.
SCRANTON -Grilled repeatedly by U.S. Assistant Attorney William Houser, Mark Ciavarella insisted he did not connect Robert Mericle to Robert Powell, or lobby publicly for a new juvenile facility, 'in my official capacity as a judge." But when Houser asked if, during an interview with reporters from a TV station, Ciavarella told them he was speaking as private citizen who had taken money from Mericle in relation to a private facility, Ciavarella answered "no."
Ciavarella opened cross examination by admitting he committed tax fraud in 2003, 2005 and 2006. Questiond by Houser, he admitted he fradulently reported finder's fees paid to him by Robert Mericle and rental income on a Florida condo co-owned by Ciavarella's wife and the wife of Michael Conahan. He denied following a false form for 2004.
Ciavarella repeatedly insisted he did not take any action to get Powell to hire Mericle to build PA Child Care in 2002, the private juvenile detention and treatment center for which CIavarella admits Mericle paid him a "finder's fee." But Houser then read testimony from Ciavarella in a civil suit in Lehigh County.
In that trial, Ciavarella was asked if he had done anything to put Powell and Mericle together, and he replied yes, that he had told Powell Mericle wanted to bid on the project and asked Powell how Mericle would go about getting bid documents
Houser then repeatedly pressed Ciavarella, asking if he was doing any of this as a judge, and Ciavarella parsed the question, insisting he "was a judge, but not doing anything in my official capacity as a judge."
Houser referred to a news segment aired on WBRE TV during which a reporter interviewed Ciavarella and Michael Conahan, both judges at the time, in judicial chambers.The prosecution entered that segment into evidence last week, playing it for the jury.
In the segment, Ciavarella and Conahan were decrying the state of the county-owned juvenile detention facility and urging construction of a new one. Ciavarella again insisted this was not done in his official capacity as a judge.
"I wasn't on the bench, I didn't have my robe on when I was doing the interview," he said.
"The media selected you to speak as a private citizen?" Houser asked.
"No sir," Ciavarella answered, "They talked to me because I was the juvenile court judge."
That's when Houser asked if Ciavarella told reporters he was speaking as a private citizen who had recieved $330,000 from Mericle as a 'finder's fee," and Ciavarella said he had not.
Judge Edwin Kosik then stopped testimony for a lunch break.
11:46 a.m.
SCRANTON - After listening again to conversations among Robert Powell, Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan recorded when Powell wore a wire, Ciavarella stressed one part he said was "vintage Bob Powell. No one is going to tell you what to do, he's going to tell them what to do," Ciavarella said
Ciavarella referred to a part of the conversation in which Powell, with salty language and a strident tone, reocunted a converation in which an attorney for Robert Mericle asked for something to be done quickly, and Powell told him he wouldn't do it.
The tapes were played previously by the prosecution, and Powell testified the three were concocting phony stories to tell investigators. Powell noted at the time that he mentioned cash payments to Ciavarella and Conahan, and Ciavarella said nothing.
After hearing the tapes, CIavarella said he was silent because it was the first time he heard about cash payments. "By the time I hear this and by the time I process it, they're onto the next thing," so he decided to sit back and listen.
Later in the tape Ciavarella asks some questions, and when asked by Attorney William Ruzzo what is going on, Ciavarella said he asked two questions "and the answers don't make any sense.' He then again decided "There's a problem here, I don't know what's going on, I better sit back and listen."
At one point in the tape Ciavarella asked about Powell's dealings with Gregory Zappala. Zappala and Powell co-owned PA Child Care and Western PA Child Care, the private juvenile detention centers at the heart of the prosecution's case. Ciavarella insisted it was "nothing more than me engaging in conversation."
Ciavarellla insisted it was true when, in the tape, he says he did not contact Mericle and seek money for helping set up his involvment in the private juvenile detention centers.. "We are absolutley not manufacturing a story," Ciavarella said, referring to the tenor of his voice on the tape. "I am livid, I am upset."
10:49 a.m.
SCRANTON - Asked why he didn't report money paid to him as a finder's fee by Robert Mericle, Mark Ciavarella said "I had two choices if I was going to take the money," take it and report it or not take it. "I made the wrong decision."
Ciavarella said "that's OK,' as far as the consequences for himself, but that it hurt his family and friends. "I have caused them so much turmoil and so much heartache, it's hard to live with it."
Ciavarella also said he only used the Florida condo owned by his wife and the wife of Michael Conahan "four or five times a year,"once for golfing in November and once for a family vacation in March, then a few days at a time by himself or family members. By contrast, he said, "It was in Bobby Powell's power to use it "whenver he wanted," and that Powell's yacht captain also had access to the condo.
Defense attorney William Ruzzo asked about three conversations that included Powell and Ciavarella. Powell has testified to all three, saying CIavarella kept extorting money from him. Ciavarella said the conversations occurred but he never demanded money and no mention was made of Powell paying rent for the condo or of Powell paying cash to Ciavarella and Conahan.
Powell had described a meeting behind Crestwood High School in ominous tones, saying Ciavarella and Conahan showed up in a car he had never seen before and took him "for a ride" that lasted about 90 minutes as they discussed what to do about a federal investigation. Ciavarella said Powell had arranged the meeting at Crestwood because his son was playing basketball, that there was nothing sinister about the car, and that Powell "was livid, he was out of his mind. He was screaming about Mericle" and his presumed statements to federal investigators.
According to Ciavarella, Powell said "I'm not going down because of Rob Mericle," and insisted Ciavarella had to do something about it.
"I told him I couldn't do anything about it." Ciavarella said.
In fact, Ciavarella said, all three meetings were about Mericle and little else.
a0:29 a.m.
SCRANTON - Asked why he didn't recuse himself from cases involving Robert Mericle after having received finder's fees from the developer, Mark Ciavarella said it was "an error on my part. I should have told the lawyers."
Several witnesses testfied for the prosecution that Ciavarella never disclosed his business deals with Mericle or Attorney Robert Powell when the two were involved in cases Ciavarella heard. Prosecutors contend this shows that Ciavarella was trying to hide his dealings with Mericle and Powell, which supports charges of honest services fraud.
Ciavarella also said it was Mericle who arranged a meeting at his chambers at which Ciavarella handed Mericle a piece of paper asking if he was wired Mericle had testified that Ciavarella implied he wanted him to alter documents showing the finder's fees had gone to Powell before going to Ciavarella. Ciavarella denied that.
Ciavarella said he believed the finder's fee was legal but did not know how Mericle had handled it on his books, and that he asked Mericle that question. Mericle said he didn't know, and Ciavarella said he asked him to go back to his office and check.Ciavarella said he knew there was a federal investigation into the deal, and that he would be in trouble if the money went to Powell first. Ciavarella said he told this to Mericle. Ciavarella also said he warned Mericle not to lie if questioned by federal agents.
"I told him there was no doubt in my mind" someone from the FBI or IRs would contact Mericle and question him about an investigation Ciavarella knew was going on. "I told him, get a lawyer," Ciavarella said. "I also told him don't lie.
"In my mind the truth does not hurt me," Ciavarella said,
Ciavarella said that was the last time he spoke to Mericle, but upon further questioning said they met again at a Catholic Youth Center dinner, and that Mericle said they had to meet. Ciavarella said after he left the dinner he told his wife "I'm never calling that office" because he knew there was an investigation going on.
Ciavarella said the two met again at a Penn State football game tailgaiting party. Ciavarella said he has attended those games since 1981, was a season ticket holder, and that his son was enrolled at Penn State at the time, in October 2006.
"I was working the grill. Rob came over with some friends," Ciavarella said. "I gave him a hug. He said, 'we gotta talk.'
Ciavarella said he replied "Rob, we are not talking about this investigation."
Earlier, Ciavarella said that after he learned about the condo in Florida, Conahan told him he initially felt it was too pricey, and that Powell had offered to help. According to Ciavarella, Conahan told him that Powell had said: "You buy it, and I'll rent it for whatever the expenses are." Ciavarella testified he knew nothing about the rental payments or what was on the checks. Powell has testified that the payments were "bogus," and that they were really ways to funnel money to Conahan and Ciavarella at their repeated demands.
9:41 a.m.
SCRANTON - Mark Ciavarella repeatedly insisted he knew little or nothing about the PA Child Care construction project in 2002 other than the fact that developer Rob Mericle had promised him a finder's fee, then conceded "Did I want the public to know I was getting money" from the person building the center? "No."
"Contrary to popular belief I had very little contact with anyone on this project," Ciavarella said. He also noted he had been Juvenile court judge from 1996 to September of 2001, but was not juvenile judge from then until January 2002, when the private facility was being discussed by Mericle and Powell. At the time of the alleged conspiracy, he said, "I'm not even juvenile court judge. I don't know if I will be juvenile court judge in the future."
Ciavarella repeatedly denied knowlege of numerous events outlined by the prosecution in the alleged conspiracy, including Powell writing of checks to Michael Conahan through Pinnacle Group of Jupiter, Inc., the company that owned a Florida condo. Ciavarella said Pinnacle was initially formed by Conahan in 2002 with Barbara Conahan as sole owner, and that Cindy Ciavarella, Mark's wife, was not put on the paperwork until 2004.
Ciavarella said he had gone on a golfing trip to Florida and a friend with him on the trip called Powell and asked to charter his boat, which was docked in the Jupiter marina. "It was absolutely beautiful," Ciavarella said of Jupiter.
Ciavarella said he returned to Luzerne County and told Conahan that he wanted to retire to FLorida, and that's when Conahan offered to bring him in on the Pinnacle condo.
Ciavarella also testified that Conahan did not move next door to him in Mountaintop until November 2004, which he said meant "all the transactions that took place" as described by the prosecution regarding payments to Conahan occurred "in his house in Hazleton."
SCRANTON - Mark Ciavarella opened his testimony by recalling his education and outlining the jobs he has taken since leaving the bench.
Ciavarella said he babysat for his daughter Nicole durintg the summer of 2009 while studying for and obtaining a commercial driver's license, but an employerdid not give him a job driving a water truck. "It obviously didn't go too well," he said.
Ciavarella then said he delivered flowers for several weeks before a friend offered a job with a cleaning company, which now gives him about 40 hours a week stripping and waxing floors and cleaning offices.
SCRANTON - Former Luzerne County Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. has taken the witness stand in his own defense at his corruption trial.
POSTED 8:31 a.m.
SCRANTON - The defense will continue presenting it's case shortly in the trial of former Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella. The jury is being escorted to the courtroom.
Lead defense attorney Monday's session ended early after defense attorneys said they had not been able to line up all the witnesses they had been seeking.
Kids for Cash ping.
Wonder why that wasn't mentioned in the article . . . . . .
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