Conahan resigns from DeNaples bank board

Times Leader staff

Luzerne County Judge resigned from the board of directors of First National Community Bank on Tuesday, one day after he and Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. were charged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office with accepting more than $2.6 million in kickbacks related to the PA Child Care juvenile detention center in Pittston Township and a similar facility in western Pennsylvania.

Conahan’s resignation notice was filed Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Conahan received more than $57,000 in compensation last year for serving as a director of the bank formerly headed by Louis DeNaples of Dunmore. Conahan had been on the board since 2003.

Last year, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, along with the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, suspended DeNaples, owner of the Mount Airy Casino Resort, after he took a leave of absence from his position as chairman of the bank’s board after being indicted on charges that he lied to state gambling officials about his ties to organized crime figures.

DeNaples’ case is pending.