Scarantino alliances run deep

If the federal probe into school district contracts continues to expand – and indications are it will – investigators face a daunting task in unraveling numerous threads exposed by the charges against Pittston Area Superintendent Ross Scarantino, the first and so far only person accused of a crime.

On Thursday Scarantino was accused of accepting money in exchange for awarding school district contracts. He went on leave the same day and could not be reached for comment.

The probe began at Wilkes-Barre Area School District and Wilkes-Barre Area Career and Technical Center when investigators collected records at both locations and interviewed some Wilkes-Barre Area district teachers. Wilkes-Barre Area Superintendent Jeff Namey testified before a grand jury in Scranton shortly after that.

The Times Leader also learned that Wilkes-Barre Area Board Member Brian Dunne had been seen at the federal building with an attorney the day before Namey’s testimony, but it could not be determined why he was there.

He has not replied to repeated efforts to reach him. Dunne has not been accused of any wrong doing.

The FBI also issued a public request for information on allegations of teachers paying for jobs.

The probe expanded to Pittston Tuesday when records going back to 2004 were subpoenaed. The FBI made a second public appeal, this time for information on contractors being required to pay to get work in school districts.

Then Scarantino was charged. The affidavit, which would likely offer details of the charges, is sealed.

But his introduction into the mix exposes other avenues for investigators to explore, some of which can be traced through reviews of board minutes, past news stories and other records.

It must be stressed that no one else has been accused of or charged with wrongdoing.

As noted in The Times Leader on Thursday, Scarantino was chairman of the Luzerne County Community College board of trustees when the board approved a construction manager contract that called for Precept Associates to be paid a significantly higher fee than managers who handled similarly sized projects.

On Thursday Luzerne County Commissioner Chairwoman Maryanne Petrilla said the federal authorities might want to look into that deal, considering the questions it raised. LCCC Spokeswoman Lisa Nelson said Friday that no investigators have shown up at the college.

The LCCC contract with Precept was not bid out. It paid the company 8 percent of total construction cost for the $20 million Public Safety Training Institute being built on the Nanticoke campus.

College President Tom Leary conceded no one at the college reviewed the contract before awarding it.

No one was accused of wrongdoing and a more favorable contract was negotiated once the high cost was exposed.

A similar no-bid contract was awarded at the college to former Pittston Area School Board member Anthony Rostock in December 2007, when Precept, as the construction manager, hired Rostock’s company, AJ Consulting, to oversee the planting of trees, plants and shrubbery at the training center.

Rostock had served on the Pittston Area board for 16 years before losing a reelection bid in 2005. He had also worked for many years at the Luzerne Intermediate Unit.

In November 2008, when The Times Leader asked about Rostock’s hiring at LCCC, Leary said the move was based on the recommendation of Precept and the project’s architect, A&E Group.

The hiring was approved by the college’s executive committee, which at the time included Scarantino and former Pittston School Board member August Piazza, who also served as Wyoming Valley West School District Superintendent, retiring in 2006.

The college did not seek requests for proposals for the work Rostock did. Invoices showed Rostock was paid $30,037 for 400.5 hours of work billed at $75 per hour.

Rostock can be directly tied to Precept. At a May 5, 2008 Dallas School Board work session, Precept and three other companies made a pitch for work related to construction of the new high school. Among those representing Precept were Rostock and Sam Marranca.

Marranca also runs SamCar Group LTD. That fact came out during the dust up about Precept at LCCC, when A&E Group President Thomas Cooney rebutted claims that his company had recommended Precept as construction manager for the Safety Institute project.

Cooney said he had was unable to check the qualifications of Precept because it was too new, having been formed in 2007, so he checked the reputation of Robert Higdon, who was partnered with Samuel Marranca in Precept and who had been involved in another company called Premium Builders. Cooney said he was also asked to check the qualifications of SamCar Group LTD, a construction management firm owned by Marranca.

Cooney said SamCar had done work for the Luzerne County Transportation Authority, Pittston Area School District and Hazleton Area School District.

SamCar Group LTD was also hired as construction manager for work at Wilkes-Barre Area Career and Technical Center done last year, work that included a contract with G.C. Wall, Inc.

Pennsylvania Department of State Corporation Bureau records list Gerald Wall as president of that company. State records also list a Gerald Wall as secretary and treasurer of SamCar Construction Inc.

While SamCar Construction is listed as a separate corporation in state records, it shares the same address – 35 Slocum Ave., Exeter – as SamCar Group LTD in state records.

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