It’s 18 months for Powell

SCRANTON – He provided information that helped send three judges and a school director to prison, but the assistance wasn’t quite enough to save attorney Robert Powell from a jail cell of his own.

Powell, 53, was sentenced Friday to 1 � years in prison and fined $60,000 for his role in the “kids for cash” scandal that also brought down former Luzerne County judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan.

The sentence, imposed by U.S. District Judge Edwin Kosik, was six months longer than Powell and his attorney, Joseph D’Andrea had requested. It was still a marked reduction from the 27-to-33-month sentence he initially faced under federal sentencing guidelines.

Powell, formerly of Drums, pleaded guilty in July 2009 to paying the former judges $772,500 in kickbacks and helping them conceal the source of nearly $2 million more they received from local estate developer Robert Mericle, who built two juvenile detention centers that were co-owned by Powell.

Prosecutors say Ciavarella and Conahan coerced Powell into paying them the kickbacks and into acting as the conduit for the Mericle money out of fear they would stop sending juveniles to the detention centers.

Other dealings

Information revealed during the sentencing hearing showed Powell was involved in other nefarious dealings as well with former Luzerne County Judge Michael Toole and former Wilkes-Barre Area school director Brian Dunn.

Toole, who is serving a 2 � year sentence, pleaded guilty in November 2010 to improperly influencing an insurance case that was before him and to failing to report on his income taxes a $30,000 fee her received for referring a case. D’Andrea and prosecutors confirmed for the first time Friday that the fee was paid by Powell.

Dunn pleaded guilty in December 2009 to accepting a bribe in exchange for his influence in hiring a teacher and was later sentenced to 18 months in prison. D’Andrea and prosecutors confirmed Friday that Powell aided that investigation, but declined to provide further details.

Powell’s cooperation led prosecutors to recommend a sentence of 12 to 18 months in the juvenile scandal case – a roughly 50 percent reduction from the guideline range.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Zubrod told Kosik Powell’s assistance was key to convincing Conahan to plead guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy, and was an important element in Ciavarella’s conviction in February on 12 charges. Ciavarella was later sentenced to 28 years in prison, while Conahan was sentenced to 17 � years.

“That does not change what he did,” Zubrod said of Powell, “but it does show the steps he took to set right a great wrong.”

Kosik acknowledged Powell’s assistance in the cases, but noted that did not absolve him from responsibility.

“He could have told the judges to go to hell. Are you suggesting he was so pressured he didn’t do that?” Kosik asked Zubrod.

D’Andrea argued for a lesser sentence than prosecutors recommended, suggesting that Powell be permitted to serve part of his sentence on home confinement. But Kosik rejected the request.

“I will not go as far as the defendant would like me to go because I am convinced all these defendants somehow knew what each was doing and that each would benefit,” Kosik said.

Powell did not address the court, opting instead to write a 3�-page letter, which was provided to the media after the hearing.

In the letter, Powell apologized to his family, former business partners, Luzerne County residents and others. He continued to maintain that he was extorted into paying Conahan and Ciavarella.

“I was wrong for giving in and paying them and will forever bear the burden of having done so. I was also wrong not to report this to the authorities right at that moment,” Powell wrote. “I had the ability to stop this travesty and I did not.

“Eventually I got the courage to say no and refused their demands,” he continued. “That was far too little far too late.”

Speaking after the sentencing, D’Andrea said Powell had hoped the “extraordinary” level of cooperation he provided would convince Kosik to impose a sentence at the low end of the guideline range.

“This is the stuff movies are made of,” D’Andrea said. “He wore a wire with corrupt judges . . . in their chambers and in their courtrooms. He got them to admit wrongdoing. That’s stuff you don’t see.”

Ciavarella was acquitted of the bribery and extortion charges relating to Powell’s allegations. D’Andrea said his testimony was still crucial to the government, however, because it put together all the pieces of the complex case.

“Bob was the architect of exactly what happened. He laid out the entire case. He knew how the cash got to them and knew how the money was filtered through him,” he said.

Powell’s cooperation

Speaking with reporters after the hearing, U.S. Attorney Peter J. Smith acknowledged the importance of Powell’s role in the case.

“Without Mr. Powell’s vital cooperation it might have been a much more difficult, much longer, if not impossible, process,” Smith said.

Powell, who was released following the hearing, was directed to report to serve his sentence on Nov. 30.

D’Andrea said Powell relocated his family to Florida. Kosik agreed to recommend that Powell serve his sentence at the federal detention camp in Miami, a minimum security facility.

D’Andrea said Powell was disappointed by the sentence, but he’s confident that Powell will bounce back from the scandal and again be successful upon his release from prison.

“Don’t worry about Bob Powell. He will land of his feet and be very, very successful some day,” he said.