Luzerne County Judges

December 31, 2009

Guilty plea brings end to Toole’s pay, benefits

The judge has 10 days after his plea in a corruption case to resign his Luzerne County Court seat.

Times Leader staff

WILKES-BARRE – The state Supreme Court has terminated the pay and benefits of suspended Luzerne County Judge Michael Toole based on his guilty plea Tuesday to corruption charges.

Toole, 49, of Wilkes-Barre, was suspended from judicial duties on Dec. 3, the day after he was charged with honest services fraud and tax evasion. He had continued to collect his $161,850 salary pending the official acceptance of his guilty plea.

Toole’s plea agreement calls for him to resign from office within 10 days of the acceptance of his plea. He had not tendered his resignation to the governor’s office as of late Wednesday afternoon, a spokesperson for the governor said.

Federal prosecutors say Toole used his position as a judge to improperly influence the appointment of a neutral arbitrator to hear an uninsured motorist arbitration case. Prosecutors say Toole secretly communicated with the attorney who had filed the case to ascertain who that attorney wanted to have appointed. Toole had vacationed at a New Jersey Beach home owned by the attorney on numerous occasions, prosecutors said. The tax-evasion charge against Toole relates to Toole’s failure to report on his income tax return a $30,000 fee he received from another attorney for referring a case to that attorney.

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