Conahan, ‘good guy’ to bad

Mike Conahan grew up in a different kind of Hazleton in the 1960s. Ethnicity still strongly delineated neighborhoods, with the Italians in the northeast, the Irish on the South Side and the Poles and Slavs tucked in between.

Teens hung out at the Knotty Pine drive-in restaurant after canteen dances and football games. Younger children played pickup baseball and football in empty lots in every small neighborhood. Crime seemed hardly a problem; doors seemed always unlocked.

Conahan’s father, a three-term city mayor, was a funeral director by trade, the family name well-respected in town.

Life was good, and Michael Thomas Conahan went from popular teen athlete to law student to local attorney. He soon embarked on a fast-track political career with an appointment to a district magistrate seat, and by age 41, won a seat as Luzerne County judge.

But at some point, as surely as ethnic neighborhood boundaries began to redefine in his hometown, so too did the line between right and wrong. And as the streets of Hazleton went from presumed safe to seemingly crime-ridden, Conahan transformed from local hero to criminal.

On Thursday, for the second time in 16 months, Conahan, 57, now of Wright Township, agreed to plead guilty to a corruption charge, this time admitting to a single count of racketeering that could net him a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. No date has been set for the plea hearing.

Friends are shocked

People who have known Conahan from various stages in his life were shocked and saddened when they first heard the news in January 2009 that he and then-juvenile court Judge Mark Ciavarella agreed to plead guilty to corruption charges. The deal fell apart six months later when a federal judge, insisting neither man had accepted responsibility for his crimes, rejected their pleas. The two judges withdrew the pleas, were hit with a 48-count indictment, and pleaded not guilty. A flurry of pre-trial motions suggested they intended to fight, until Conahan’s surprise second plea agreement last week.

“What happened pretty much left me speechless,” said Conrad Falvello, a Sugarloaf Township attorney who has known Conahan since childhood. “He was a good guy, a regular kid. It was a good family.”

“His dad, Joe, had a funeral home on 2nd and Vine streets. We were (a few blocks east) on 1st Street between Laurel and Wyoming. The center of activity was D.A. Harman, (an elementary school) on 1st and Church streets.” That school, like that past, is gone for good, demolished amid major school district restructuring in the last decade.

“In those days, each school had its own playground, and that’s where I met him. They had programs with pickup games. Pickup basketball, pickup baseball, it was always pickup something. It was a good time growing up,” Falvello, 60, recalled.

The Harman playground had a basketball court, and the various playgrounds in town had teams that played each other. Conahan was an avid participant, Falvello said.

“I thought he was pretty good. He didn’t play formally, but certainly he was good enough to hold his own with the rest of us. … We would play pickup football. He was more basketball and baseball,” Falvello said.

Alice M. Fay, 56, of Conyngham, also had the opportunity to know a very young Michael Conahan. They attended St. Gabriel’s Catholic elementary school, another lost icon.

“They were a very close family. His sisters looked out for him,” Fay said. “He was very popular with his classmates, intelligent, well-liked by the nuns. Even though he came from a prominent family, he was one of us in school – very down to earth, a very genuine friend. We graduated with (a class of) 40. It was a small class, so we were all very close. We remained good friends for life.”

“It was a little south side Irish Catholic school, so we shared a lot of good times. I would have to say he’s proud of his Irish heritage. … He was fun. He was one of us. He was very popular with his teachers and classmates. He had a great sense of humor. He was a very genuine person and remained a genuine friend. He was humble, down to earth. That’s the kind of person he is – fun-loving and good-hearted,” Fay said.

“It’s awful what he’s been going through. But, he has friends who are very loyal to him. … And he doesn’t forget his friends either,” Fay said.

The high school years

“I introduced him to his wife on a ski slope. I think it was Jack Frost or Big Boulder,” recalled Tom Boyle, owner of Boyle Funeral Home in Hazleton.

Boyle said his family knew the Conahans well as “friendly competitors” in the business, and his family was also close to the Yamullas because his mother graduated with Barbara Conahan’s father in 1937.

“I was saddened by the whole turn of events. I think most of the community is saddened. He helped a lot of people out, and I mean in the best sense,” Boyle said, adding that he’s known Conahan all of his life.

He recalled playing on a championship basketball team together when they were in ninth grade at St. Gabriel’s High School.

While Boyle continued attending St. Gabriel’s, Conahan transferred to Hazleton High School his sophomore year.

He was a member of the Mountaineer newspaper staff, the Spirit Club and student council in his sophomore through senior years, serving as vice president and then president of the council the latter two years. He also participated in the photography club and on the yearbook staff, played sophomore basketball and worked in the athletic office his senior year.

Jimmy Grohol, owner of Jimmy’s Quick Lunch in Hazleton, recalled that Conahan would often be seen around the high school with a camera, taking photos for the high school yearbook.

Grohol confirmed what several others have said: that Conahan loved his hot dogs with everything (mustard, onions and chili) – a local favorite. He still stops in on occasion, Grohol said.

For Conahan’s high school prom, the Hazleton High School gymnasium was “transformed into a castle courtyard reminiscent of the romantic medieval period, complete with drawbridge and moat, stone walls and balcony, stained glass windows and flowered trellises,” according to his high school yearbook.

Less than three weeks later, Conahan and his 601 classmates would say goodbye to high school and move on to make a difference in the world.

Perhaps Conahan took to heart the topic of the guest speaker at his high school graduation – Lt. Gov. Ernest Kline.

According to Conahan’s yearbook, Kline spoke of “the political power of youth in today’s world” during commencement exercises on June 7, 1971 at Harman Geist Stadium in Hazleton.

But given the nature of the federal charges against Conahan – prosecutors allege he and Ciavarella participated in a $2.6 million kickback scheme connected to the construction of two juvenile detention centers and placement of hundreds of youths in the facilities – one might wonder how he interpreted the substance of Kline’s speech.

Not a law school standout

One member of Temple University School of Law’s Class of 1977 described Conahan as someone “who really flew under the radar.”

“He was one of those guys who was really low-key. He didn’t stand out much academically or in any other way. He certainly was no superstar. Neither was I, for that matter,” Allentown attorney Michael Moyer said. “But I remember him being a nice guy. I remember going out with him for some beers.”

Moyer said his college roommates – Kingston attorney Thomas O’Connor and Wilkes-Barre attorney Carl Frank – knew Conahan much better than he did because they were from the same locality.

Moyer said the federal charges against Conahan were “unfortunate. It brings shame to all lawyers and judges.”

While he was surprised at the charges filed against the former judges, Moyer said he recalled being “shocked” when he heard decades earlier that Conahan was appointed and then elected a district justice so early in his legal career, given an unremarkable performance in law school.

“Looking back, he probably had a lot of political connections,” Moyer surmised.

The recent corruption charges were not the first time Conahan was linked to criminal activity.

According to a transcript of the 1991 trial of Ronald Belletiere, who was convicted of participating in the Empire Drug ring that operated in Hazleton in the mid-1980s, Neal DeAngelo, a Hazleton businessman, testified that in 1986 Conahan, then a district judge, had warned him about purchasing drugs from another man whom Conahan said was under investigation. Neal DeAngelo, who was never charged, testified Conahan then introduced him to Belletiere, a former Hazleton man who was living in Miami.

The trial transcript shows the prosecutor in the case described Conahan as an "unindicted co-conspirator" in a sidebar conversation with U.S. District Judge Edwin Kosik.

More recently, Belletiere’s name showed up twice in connection with Conahan. Belletiere was listed as a permanent guest on a resident registration form for the Jupiter (Fla.) Yacht Club condominium co-owned by Conahan and Ciavarella. Listed persons have access to the property without authorization from the owners. Federal authorities said Conahan and Ciavarella laundered some of the money they received in the kickback scheme as expenses for the condo.

Also, according to Florida corporate documents, Belletiere opened a used car lot in Pompano Beach with Conahan’s wife. Conahan listed RAB Auto Sales as a business from which he or his wife attain income on financial disclosure forms he filed each year with the state from 2004 to 2007.

Family favors helped

Alice Fay’s father, William “Joe” Fay, has been a Hazleton Democratic committeeman and long-time political activist in the city.

Fay, 82, said that while he knew the Conahan family well, he never met Michael until after he had been appointed district justice and was running for re-election.

“The magistrate’s job was opening up at the time and we were in Mayor Conahan’s home. (The mayor) was making phone calls to intercede that Michael Conahan would get the appointment. I thought it was impossible; he just got out of law school,” Fay said.

“Joe Conahan did a lot of favors for people. He had the city in the palm of his hand. Everybody loved him,” Fay said.

And Michael’s personality won people over as well, Fay said. “He was always friendly. People loved him.”

After Conahan’s appointment as magistrate, “everybody seemed to like him and they thought he was a very fair person.”

As a judge, Conahan “used to take kids going to law school as clerks to help them out,” Fay said.

Fay didn’t see much of Conahan after he moved to the Mountain Top area, but when they did meet, he would try to help Fay get candidates elected.

Having tried a few cases before Conahan, Falvello termed him “a hard worker.”

“From my perspective, when you went in his courtroom and he tried a case, he was competent. What happened pretty much left me speechless. My experience with him has always been good,” Falvello said.

On a personal level, Falvello said Conahan has “done a lot for people over the years. He was a bright guy.” As for his personality, Falvello said that he acted “pretty much the same” on both professional and personal levels.

And while the federal charges have damaged Conahan’s reputation, William Fay said he’s not surprised that Conahan’s friends remain supportive and loyal. His personality helped make him loved and admired in the community for many years.