Luzerne County Judges

December 9, 2009

Skrep doesn’t give testimony

By Jennifer Learn-Andes jandes@timesleader.com
Luzerne County Reporter
Jennifer Learn-Andes on Facebook   |   @TLJenLearnAndes on Twitter

Luzerne County Commissioner Greg Skrepenak did not testify before the Interbranch Commission on Juvenile Justice on Tuesday on the advice of his attorney.

Skrepenak said he wanted to appear, but his lawyer, Pete Moses, advised against it.

“I’d love to testify, but my lawyer said no because of all the pending investigations,” Skrepenak said.

Skrepenak has said he expects to be questioned as part of the ongoing corruption probe, but he said Tuesday he has still not been contacted by federal investigators.

“I don’t know what’s happening with the federal probe. I, like many people, find out what’s happening for the first time when I see it in the news,” he said.

Commissioners Stephen A. Urban and Maryanne Petrilla both testified Tuesday.

Skrepenak and former commissioner Todd Vonderheid had approved the controversial $58 million, 20-year lease of the Pittston Township juvenile detention center that was involved in federal charges against former judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan.

Skrepenak said it’s “well documented” that he and Vonderheid supported the lease because they thought the county would cover the lease cost, and possibly generate revenue, by renting out unused beds to other counties.

That didn’t happen, and a state audit indicated the county would lose $2 million in reimbursements per year because the lease provided an excessive profit to the detention center owners. Commissioners got out of the lease last year and rent beds in the facility as needed.

Several of Skrepenak’s friends and allies have been implicated in the corruption probe.

His father, also named Greg, and an employee of his father’s Wilkes-Barre bar/restaurant -- Big Ugly’s – have also testified before a federal grand jury.

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