Lawyer IDs owner who paid a bribe

WILKES-BARRE – The owner of a prominent engineering firm that does work for numerous area school districts and municipalities is the person who paid a $1,400 bribe to a member of a county housing agency, an attorney connected to the case said Friday.

Attorney Michael Butera said Michael J. Pasonick of Pasonick and Associates Engineering of Wilkes-Barre is the unidentified businessman that federal prosecutors reference in charges that were filed against his client, Gerald Bonner, and William Maguire, both of whom served on the Luzerne County Housing Authority.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office has not identified the businessman. Heidi Havens, spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Dennis Pfannenschmidt, said he would have no comment on Butera’s statement.

Maguire and Bonner are accused of conspiring to induce the contractor to pay the money based on their past support of contracts that were awarded to that person’s business by the housing authority.

The men were each charged with corrupt receipt of a reward for official action. Maguire on Thursday pleaded guilty to the charge, but Bonner maintains his innocence and is planning to go to trial, Butera said.

Butera said Friday that Bonner disputes certain allegations made by prosecutors, but acknowledges he did obtain the money from Pasonick and passed it on to Maguire.

Butera said the key issue at trial will be the intent of all parties involved, and whether Bonner’s actions meet the legal definition of the crime with which he is charged.

“Jerry Bonner did not commit any crime. I don’t know how the government could prove that he did commit a crime,” Butera said. “They are going to have to prove every single word of that indictment. Jerry Bonner was not corrupt and he didn’t corruptly receive any award or bribe.”

Butera said he decided to reveal Pasonick’s identity because he believes there should be “transparency” in the proceeding and to dispel rumors that were circulating that identified a different person as the contractor who was involved.

“I want everyone to know the truth as to what happened in this case,” Butera said. “The unnamed contractor is Mike Pasonick. I know it. The U.S. Attorney’s Office knows it. ... There shouldn’t be secrecy if you are going to accuse someone of a serious offense.”

At Maguire’s plea hearing on Thursday, Assistant U.S. Attorney William Houser said Maguire sought the money from the contractor to reimburse himself for a trip he took in January to Sanibel Island, Fla., for a housing conference.

The trip, which was attended by several other housing authority officials, was approved by the board. Houser said Maguire did not want to seek reimbursement for his expenses because of the controversy that had surrounded the use of debit cards by Luzerne County officials.

Houser said the contractor was prepared to testify that Bonner solicited the money for Maguire, and that he tied the request to Bonner and Maguire’s support of past contracts, including one that was awarded in the summer of 2008.

Records obtained from the housing authority show Pasonick’s company was awarded contracts for the architectural design of two housing modernization projects, in Swoyersville and Duryea, in June 2008. The total project cost for both projects was $2.3 million, for which Pasonick’s firm would be paid a total of $183,825.

The only other business Pasonick did with the authority was in 2005, when he was awarded a $94,250 contract for a housing project in Plymouth.

Michael Pasonick has been a licensed engineer since 1970. His company has done engineering work for numerous municipalities and school districts.

Records show that from 2004 to 2009 his company has been paid a total $882,500 for various projects in the Wilkes-Barre Area, Crestwood, Hanover Area, Pittston Area and Wyoming Valley West school districts – several of which have been implicated in the ongoing corruption probe.

The bulk of those contracts were in Wilkes-Barre Area, which paid the firm $698,332 over the five-year period.

Three board members of the Wilkes-Barre Area School District are facing federal charges. Brian Dunn and James Height are accused of taking bribes in exchange for their influence in the approval of contracts. The third, Frank Pizzella, is accused of passing a bribe onto another board member to assist an applicant in securing a teaching position.

On Wednesday, federal agents charged Hanover Area School Board member Anthony Spinozza with accepting a bribe from a contractor in exchange for influencing the awarding of a contract. Pasonick’s firm was paid a total of $82,000 in 2008 for a paving project at Hanover Area in 2008.

Pittston Area paid Pasonick’s firm $72,672 in the 2008-09 school year. Two of its officials, former superintendent Ross Scarantino and board member Joseph Oliveri were also charged with accepting bribes for influencing contracts.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office has not identified any of the contractors involved in Wilkes-Barre Area, Pittston Area and Hanover Area cases. Pasonick’s firm has not been implicated in any wrongdoing within those districts.

In Bonner’s case, his trial was initially scheduled for Nov. 23, but it appears it will be continued. U.S. District Judge Thomas Vanaskie scheduled a hearing for Dec. 16 regarding a suppression motion Butera filed. That motion must be decided before the trial begins.

Butera’s motion seeks to suppress statements Bonner made to federal agents who visited his home on Aug. 13. Butera contends the agents did not read Bonner his Miranda rights against self-incrimination.

In a reply filed Thursday, Houser argues the agents were not required to read Bonner his rights because he was not in custody – the key element that triggers Miranda warnings.

Butera said the circumstances surrounding the questioning of Bonner will clearly show he was subjected to a “custodial interrogation.”

“When you have two FBI agents who have you cornered on your front porch, pounding you with questions, I don’t think the average person would know he has a constitutional right not to talk to them. It was a custodial interrogation, no matter how you look at it,” he said.