Conahan linked to Pa. beer company

A Dauphin County beer distributor and the company that owns it raise questions about the diverse business interests of former judge Michael T. Conahan.

Although Conahan’s name does not appear on any documents for Learco Inc., the owner of the Beer Express on Queen Street, Harrisburg, and people associated with the businesses have connections to him.

His sister, Paula C. DeJoseph is listed as a stockholder of Learco, according to records on file with the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board.

The president of Learco, attorney Edward P. McNelis of Hazleton, shared an office with Conahan at one time and represented him in a complaint regarding campaign finances in his first run for a seat on the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas in 1993.

McNelis also represents Conahan’s wife, Barbara, and Cindy Ciavarella, wife of former judge Mark A. Ciavarella, in a pending civil suit related to the placement of juveniles in two detention centers at the heart of the criminal charges against the two former jurists.

For a time Learco listed the Sheppton post office box number of Beverage Marketing of Pa., a company owned by former judge Conahan, as its contact on paperwork filed with the state.

A call to attorney Philip Gelso, who represents Conahan in the criminal case, was not returned Friday.

McNelis refused to discuss the shared address of the privately held companies and ended a brief conversation Thursday by saying, “I’m just not going to get into it.”

His refusal left unanswered questions about a 1993 case initiated by the liquor control board.

Learco was fined $300 because it was not the only one with a “pecuniary interest” in the licensed business, according to the citation issued by the board. Francesca Chapman, a board spokeswoman, explained Learco had silent partners or investors not named on its license who profited from the business’s operations.

Their identities could not be determined Friday. Chapman said she was in the process of locating the archived files of the case that might contain the names of the silent partners or investors. The paperwork likely would be available in a few days, she added.

The citation was filed around the time a Hazleton businessman was cooperating with federal authorities investigating a “local public official” in connection with a cocaine deal and other illegal activity, according to court documents.

In August 1994, Paul DeAngelo was facing sentencing on a felony charge of possession with intent to distribute a kilogram of cocaine.

The federal government filed a request for leniency for Paul DeAngelo because of his cooperation with the investigation of the unnamed “public official” that included wearing a concealed recording device to engage the “public official” in conversations.

In addition to providing information about the cocaine deal, the government said Paul DeAngelo “further advised of leaks of information made by that local public official, that individual’s ticket fixing, and that individual’s hidden interest in a business.”

Paul DeAngelo was facing up to five years in prison, but was sentenced to 18 months.

He and his brother Neal and another man, Neil Forte, flew to Miami, Fla. in 1987 to purchase cocaine from Ronald Belletiere, according to testimony in Belletiere’s 1991 drug trafficking trial in U.S. District Court, Scranton.

Neal DeAngelo testified then Hazleton district justice Conahan called him in 1986 to say Paul DeAngelo’s name was mentioned at city hall in reference to drug activity. The federal prosecutor in the trial identified Conahan as an “un-indicted conspirator.”

According to the trial transcript, in a subsequent conversation Neal DeAngelo asked Conahan whether someone was a good source for cocaine. Conahan replied that person was not and said he would provide a “good source” who turned out to be former Hazleton resident Belletiere, Neal DeAngelo testified.

Belletiere was convicted and eventually sentenced to 55 months in prison. He, too, received a break for his cooperation with federal authorities in two investigations, one of them being of a “public official,” according to court documents.

Upon his release from prison Belletiere maintained social and business ties with Conahan who was the godfather of Belletiere’s daughter. The two men were involved in a used car business in Pompano Beach, Fla. and Belletiere was listed as a permanent guest at the Jupiter, Fla. condominium owned by the former judges and their wives.