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Ciavarella case Ex-judge in ‘kids for cash’ scandal will learn his fate in court today

By Terrie Morgan-Besecker tmorgan@timesleader.com
Law & Order Reporter
Terrie Morgan-Besecker on Facebook   |   @TLTerrieMorgan on Twitter

WILKES-BARRE – They won’t get to speak in court today, but parents of some of the juveniles former Judge Mark Ciavarella incarcerated made sure U.S. District Judge Edwin Kosik got their message: They want Ciavarella to receive the maximum sentence possible for his conviction on corruption charges.

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Mark Ciavarella former Luzerne County Judge paints the steps of a home on McLean Street in Wilkes-Barre Thursday afternoon. Clark Van Orden/photo

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What’s Next

Former judge Mark Ciavarella is scheduled to be sentenced at 9 a.m. today before U.S. District Judge Edwin Kosik at the federal courthouse located at 235 N. Washington Ave, Scranton. The sentencing is open to the public.

Timeline

Jan. 26, 2009: Federal prosecutors announce then-judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan have signed a plea agreement that calls for them to each plead guilty to honest services fraud and tax evasion in exchange for 87-month prison sentences.

Feb. 12, 2009: Ciavarella and Conahan formally enter guilty pleas to the charges before U.S. District Court Judge Edwin Kosik.

July 31, 2009: Kosik rejects the plea agreements, saying he did not believe the former judges had adequately shown they accepted responsibility for their crimes.

Aug. 24, 2009: Ciavarella and Conahan formally withdraw their guilty pleas.

Sept. 9, 2009: Federal prosecutors file a 48-count indictment against Ciavarella and Conahan, charging them with multiple counts including racketeering, honest services fraud, bribery, extortion, mail fraud, money laundering and tax evasion.

Sept., 15, 2009: Ciavarella and Conahan enter pleas of not guilty to the indictment.

April 29, 2010: Conahan enters a plea deal with federal prosecutors that calls for him to plead guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy. There is no agreement on sentencing.

July 23, 2010: Conahan enters a guilty plea to racketeering conspiracy.

Sept. 29, 2010: A new, 39-count indictment is filed against Ciavarella. The indictment makes technical alterations to the original indictment based on a U.S. Supreme Court decision that impacted the honest services fraud statute.

Feb. 7, 2011: Ciavarella’s trial begins in federal court.

Feb. 19, 2011: The jury returns its verdict, finding Ciavarella guilty of 12 counts, and not guilty of 27 counts filed against him.

Aug. 11, 2011: Ciavarella is scheduled to appear before Kosik at 9 a.m. for sentencing.

In letters received by Kosik over a two-year period, the parents and several of the affected juveniles detailed their experiences when they appeared before Ciavarella, who presided over Luzerne County’s juvenile court for more than a decade.

The writers were among 193 people who contacted Kosik to express their outrage regarding the crimes committed by Ciavarella, who is scheduled to be sentenced at 9 a.m. today.

Kosik on Wednesday released 30 of the letters based on requests filed by several media outlets, including The Times Leader. He declined to release the others, saying he had not read the bulk of letters, and did not consider them in determining Ciavarella’s sentence.

None of the letters Kosik received was written by persons who supported Ciavarella.

Al Flora, one of Ciavarella’s attorneys, said the defense received 100 to 150 letters from Ciavarella’s supporters, but they did not submit them to the court at Ciavarella’s direction.

“He did not want the people who wrote the letters on his behalf to be subjected to public ridicule, condemnation or scorn,” Flora said.

Ciavarella, 61, was convicted in February of 12 counts, including racketeering, mail fraud and money laundering, for accepting nearly $1 million from Robert Mericle, who built two juvenile detention centers the county utilized. The former judge faces up to life in prison under federal sentencing guidelines.

Federal prosecutors originally alleged Ciavarella and former Judge Michael Conahan conspired to jail juveniles at the centers to increase profits, then extorted money from their one-time co-owner, Robert Powell.

The jury found Ciavarella not guilty on those counts, however. Prosecutors never presented any evidence at trial that questioned the propriety of decisions Ciavarella made to incarcerate youths.

The letters released by Kosik show parents are convinced Ciavarella’s rulings were motivated by greed.

Parents described being shell shocked after watching their children be led from the courtroom in handcuffs and shackles. The letters contain the names of the parents and the juveniles. Out of concern for the privacy of the families, The Times Leader is withholding the identity of any letter writer who has not previously spoken out publicly.

One of the parents, a woman from Wilkes-Barre, wrote about how she “felt like I had led a lamb to slaughter” after she appeared in court with her daughter.

The woman said her daughter had been charged with a minor offense. She and the family’s attorney had assured her daughter that Ciavarella would be fair and would help her. They were wrong.

“He yelled to have her removed from the courtroom as if she had committed murder,” the woman said in the letter. “We can still visualize her horrified face.”

In another letter, a parent from Luzerne described how her son, a decorated Boy Scout, was sentenced to 35 days at boot camp for allegedly throwing a rock at a vehicle.

“The judge ranted and raved about my son being a terrorist let loose on the streets of Luzerne County,” the woman wrote. “My husband and I and the rest of our family stood there in shock.”

Other parents spoke of the psychological harm their children suffered from being incarcerated.

One mother wrote of how her 11-year-old son was incarcerated for two years after she turned him in for taking her car and driving it over a curb. The experience left him bitter and angry.

“The point of this letter is for you to understand how many lives were destroyed,” the mother wrote. “I have to live with the knowledge that my faith in the law and the judicial system is destroyed. My entire family and I know that I am to blame for the horrible things that happened to my son.”

Those sentiments were shared by Sandy Fonzo, who gained national attention when she confronted Ciavarella outside the courthouse after his conviction.

Fonzo claims Ciavarella’s incarceration of her son, Ed Kenzakoski, as a juvenile led to lifelong depression that caused him to commit suicide in 2010.

In her letter, which Fonzo said she wrote while sitting at Ed’s gravesite, she implores Kosik to impose a lengthy sentence.

“Please! I beg of you with everything I have left! Show these kids and families that there is justice!” Fonzo wrote.

One of the juveniles sentenced by Ciavarella said he simply wants to see the judge accept responsibility for his crimes.

“I did my time and paid restitution. I took accountability,” the man said. “Now it’s Ciavarella’s turn to do the same.”

Kosik also received letters from Luzerne County District Attorney Jacqueline Musto Carroll and Senior Judge Chester Muroski, who spoke of the impact the corruption scandal has had on the county and court system.

“Quite simply put, it has been devastating and is likely to be a mark on the name of our county for years and years to come,” Musto Carroll wrote.

Muroski also wrote of the “irreparable harm” that has been done to the court system’s reputation.

“The same justice system that has been tarnished must now be relied upon to mete out an appropriate punishment for the harm that has been done,” he wrote.

If that faith is to be restored, one parent wrote, Ciavarella must pay a high price.

“He wants zero tolerance and accountability with no mercy, then he should get as good as he gives,” the man wrote.