Luzerne County Judges

2:14 p.m. UPDATE

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Powell

Don Carey/Times Leader File

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Attorney Robert Powell’s 1980 Rockwell International Corp. NA-265-65, a 12-passenger, 2-engine model, sits on the tarmac at Hazleton Municipal Airport. A federal complaint alleges kickbacks were paid to two Luzerne County judges in return for beneficial judicial decisions and other actions that led the county to use two juvenile detention centers he was part owner of until June 2008.

Pete G. Wilcox/Times Leader File

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SCRANTON - A plea agreement signed by Robert Powell in connection with the Luzerne County juvenile scandal calls for the Butler Township attorney to forfeit his interest in his yacht and jet.

 Powell, 49, agreed to plead guilty to charges that he knew former Judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella were engaging in criminal activity, and that he took actions to help the judges conceal those crimes, U.S. Attorney Martin Carlson announced.

 Carlson said that between 2003 and 2008, Powell knew Conahan and Ciavarella were committing the honest services wire fraud, but failed to report the crime to authorities.

 In addition, Powell helped the judges conceal the crime by creating false records designed to disguise income they received and by transferring tens of thousands of dollars in cash to Conahan so that the cash was not traceable.

 Powell has also agreed to plead guilty to being an accessory after the fact to tax conspiracy. Authorities say Powell had knowledge that the judges conspired to file false income tax returns and intentionally assisted them in order to hinder and prevent their arrests.

The plea agreement comes four months after Conahan and Ciavarella pleaded guilty to depriving the public of their honest services and tax evasion. Prosecutors say Powell and another person, who has not been charged, paid the judges more than $2.6 million in kickbacks in exchange for rulings that benefited juvenile detention facilities Powell once co-owned.

Powell faces a maximum of 5 ½ years in prison and fines of up to $500,000, Carlson said.

 For further updates check back with www.timesleader.com

Posted 1:41 p.m.

An attorney at the heart of a Luzerne County juvenile scandal has agreed to plead guilty to failing to report a felony to federal authorities.

Federal authorities allege Robert Powell, of Butler Township, had knowledge that former Luzerne County judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan committed the crime of honest services wire fraud, and failing to advise authorities of that crime.