News

December 19, 2009

Pizzella pleads not guilty to charge

W-B Area board chief accused of aiding bribe

By Mark Guydish mguydish@timesleader.com
Education Reporter
Mark Guydish on Facebook   |   @TLMarkGuydish on Twitter

WILKES-BARRE– Keeping a promise made shortly after being indicted, Wilkes-Barre Area School Board President Frank Pizzella Jr. stood before a judge Friday and said “not guilty” during a brief arraignment on corruption charges.

Federal prosecutors say Pizzella acted as the go-between for a $5,000 bribe paid to a board member by the father-in-law of a person seeking a teaching job in the district. The alleged bribe occurred in 2004, three years before Pizzella won a seat on the board himself in 2007.

The plea was entered at the Max Rosenn Federal Court House in Wilkes-Barre around noon before U.S. Middle District Judge Malachy Mannion. Pizzella and his attorney Joseph Blazosek declined comment afterward, though Pizzella read a brief statement thanking supporters.

Pizzella has maintained his innocence since his Sept. 15 indictment. He remained as school board president, and was re-elected to that post by his fellow members this month. Several board members have said Pizzella is doing a good job in the post and has saved the district, and taxpayers, money with his construction experience.

Mannion set a tentative start of jury selection for Feb. 22, 9:30 a.m. in the federal building in Scranton.

Assistant U.S. Attorney William Houser agreed that Pizzella could remain free on his own recognizance until then, but asked that he be ordered not to talk to any known or potential witnesses in is case. Mannion agreed to the request.

Pizzella was the third Wilkes-Barre Area board member charged in the ongoing corruption probe. Former board member Brian Dunn was charged April 21 with accepting multiple bribes, and after multiple delays he pleaded guilty Wednesday to a single charge of accepting $5,000 from a relative of a teacher candidate in 2005. Former president James Height was charged May 18, right before his bid for re-election in the spring primaries. He resigned from the board and pleaded guilty May 29 to accepting $2,000 for supporting a contractor seeking district work. Pizzella replaced Height as board president.

On Oct. 15, local businessman Richard Emanski of Harveys Lake, owner of King Glass & Paint, agreed to plea guilty to charges that he installed carpeting for free in the home of a Wilkes-Barre Area School Board member.

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