News

November 19, 2009

Scarantino starts prison term

Former Pittston Area superintendent reported to Fort Dix prison on Nov. 10.

By Jerry Lynott jlynott@timesleader.com
Business Writer
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When Ross Scarantino reported to a federal prison on Nov. 10, he became the first person in the ongoing public corruption probe in Luzerne County to begin serving time behind bars.

Scarantino, 64, of Duryea, is an inmate at the Fort Dix federal correctional institution in New Jersey, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons Web site.

The former superintendent of the Pittston Area School District pleaded guilty to taking a $5,000 bribe for helping a contractor obtain work in the district and was sentenced to 13 months in prison.

But his projected release date is Oct. 18, 2010, according to the bureau.

Federal authorities charged Scarantino early on in the probe that has ensnared 19 people this year, including former judges Mark A. Ciavarella and Michael T. Conahan.

In January, the former judges were the first two people charged.

Since then the investigation has expanded beyond the court to Luzerne County government, school districts and to contractors who worked for the county and schools.

Besides Scarantino, former Pittston Area school director Joseph Oliveri pleaded guilty to taking a $1,500 bribe from a contractor.

Oliveri, 52, of Hughestown, stepped down from the school board and resigned his position as a county sheriff’s deputy.

According to testimony at Oliveri’s August hearing in U.S. District Court, Scranton, he used the money to pay for a Christmas party for employees of the Wilkes-Barre Area Career and Technology Center, where his wife and son work.

Federal authorities have not identified the contractor in either Scarantino’s or Oliveri’s case.

Jerry Lynott, a Times Leader staff writer, can be contacted at 570 829-7237.

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