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2 judges plead guilty in sending kids to lockup

The pair are accused of
taking $2.6 million in payoff to put away young
offenders. The crimes were petty.

The Associated Press

SCRANTON, Pa. - Two Pennsylvania judges charged
with taking millions of dollars in kickbacks to
send youth offenders to privately run detention
centers pleaded guilty to fraud Thursday in one
of the most stunning cases of judicial
corruption on record.

Prosecutors allege Luzerne County Judges Mark
Ciavarella and Michael Conahan took $2.6
million in payoffs to put juvenile offenders in
lockups run by PA Child Care LLC and a sister
company, possibly tainting the convictions of
thousands of juvenile offenders.

The judges pleaded guilty in federal court in
Scranton to honest services fraud and tax
fraud. Their plea agreements call for sentences
of more than seven years in prison. They were
permitted to remain free pending sentencing.

The gray-haired jurists said little at
Thursday’s hearing, and declined to comment to
reporters afterward.

Prosecutors described a scheme in which
Conahan, the former president judge of Luzerne
County, shut down the county-owned juvenile
detention center in 2002 and signed an
agreement with PA Child Care LLC to send youth
offenders to its new facility outside Wilkes-
Barre.

Ciavarella, who presided over juvenile court,
sent youths to the detention center while he
was taking payments, prosecutors said.

No lawyers present
For years, youth advocacy groups complained
that Ciavarella was ridiculously harsh and ran
roughshod over youngsters’ constitutional
rights. Ciavarella sent a quarter of his
juvenile defendants to detention centers from
2002 to 2006, compared with a statewide rate of
one in 10.

Among the offenders were teenagers who were
locked up for months for stealing loose change
from cars, writing a prank note and possessing
drug paraphernalia. Many had never been in
trouble before, and some were imprisoned even
after probation officers recommended against
it. Many of the youths didn’t have attorneys.

Ciavarella has specifically denied sending kids
to jail for cash, and had indicated he would
not go through with the guilty plea if the
government offered that as evidence.

Thus prosecutors left out any mention Thursday
of a quid pro quo, presenting only enough
evidence to establish that crimes had occurred.

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Zubron said
after the hearing that the government continues
to allege a quid pro quo. “We’re not
negotiating that, no. We’re not backing off,”
he said.

The prosecutor said it will be up to U.S.
District Judge Edwin Kosik to settle the
matter. Kosik could reject the proposed
sentence as too light if he decides there was a
quid pro quo.

“I think there will be significant
disagreements as to what the facts are,” Zubrod
said. “Was there a connection between the
payments and the money, and young people going
to prison? Those are issues that are going to
be addressed later by the court. There’s going
to be plenty of time to fight about that.”

The judges were charged on Jan. 26 and removed
from the bench by the Pennsylvania Supreme
Court shortly afterward.




— Associated Press
MSNBC
2009-02-12
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29164855

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