Feds charge W-B business owner

By Jennifer Learn-Andes jandes@timesleader.comLuzerne County Reporter

Well-known area businessman Thom Greco has become the 30th person implicated in the federal corruption probe, agreeing to plead guilty to a charge of failure to report a crime.

Court documents filed in federal court Thursday said Greco failed to report to authorities his knowledge that an elected official had solicited and accepted a gratuity in exchange for official action.

Greco, 53, of Wilkes-Barre, had this information between April 2005 and December 2009, court papers say. The court papers do not identify the public official or provide any further details regarding the crime.

He signed a plea agreement with federal prosecutors on May 7, but it was not publicly filed until Thursday.

He could not be reached for comment Thursday on several attempts. Chatter that Greco was under investigation has been circulating for months. When he was contacted by a reporter in early April about talk of an investigation, Greco said he had no comment.

The charge carries up to three years in prison and a maximum $250,000 fine, though federal sentencing guidelines call for zero to six months. The judge is not obligated to abide by sentencing guidelines, and Greco’s plea agreement forbids him from withdrawing his guilty plea based on a judge’s decision to ignore the sentencing guidelines.

He must also cooperate in the investigation of others as part of his plea agreement. No date has been set for Greco to enter his plea.

Greco is well-known in the region for his involvement in bars, restaurants and other entertainment projects. He has also contributed to various political campaigns over the years.

Former Wilkes-Barre City Councilman Jim McCarthy said Greco was primarily a Democrat and spoke many times about his interest in running for state Sen. Raphael Musto’s seat when Musto, D-Pittston Township, retired.

But Greco did not enter the race when that happened this year. Greco said in February that he could not run because his legal residence is in Butler Township outside Musto’s district, even though Greco owns a home in Wilkes-Barre.

McCarthy said political powerbrokers have tended to view Greco as a “loose cannon.”

“He was one of those periphery political players. He held fundraisers. He has a big family and maybe promised to get votes for people,” McCarthy said. “I never saw him get inside of the political powerbase.”

McCarthy said he’s always had a “very good relationship” with Greco and had once even considered partnering with him on a local bar.

“I never heard him say anything that would lead me to believe he was up to anything,” McCarthy said. “It kind of surprised me.”

The only project involving public money and Greco that came to McCarthy’s mind was the historic Market Street Square train station in downtown Wilkes-Barre.

County Commissioners Greg Skrepenak, Todd Vonderheid and Stephen A. Urban unanimously voted in January 2006 to use $5.8 million in community development funding to purchase the train station from Greco.

The purchase price was based on two separate appraisals that both valued the 6.2-acre property at $5.7 million, county officials have said.

The funds were turned over to the county Redevelopment Authority, which purchased the property. It has continued to deteriorate because authority members have said they don’t have funding to renovate the complex.

McCarthy said he questions the wisdom of the public purchase because the property has become “like a great beached whale” that attracts vandals.

Urban said Thursday that he stands by the purchase and believes the authority should proceed with plans to borrow funds to make the structure suitable for the county’s tourism promotion agency and possibly a senior center. Rental income could repay the loan, he said.

The authority’s former executive director, Allen Bellas, had been overseeing the project until he was charged as part of the corruption probe for accepting a bribe.

Like McCarthy, Urban said he wants to know which elected official and public expenditure were involved in the charge against Greco.

“If somebody shook Thom Greco down, he should have reported it to authorities. If any businessman is shaken down or attempted to be shaken down by an elected official, they ought to report it to the FBI. That’s the only way it’s going to stop,” Urban said.

One of Greco’s companies, Phoenix Estates, also owns property on Union Street in Wilkes-Barre that is rented by county-related work force assistance offices. County officials say the county publicly advertised for space, and Greco’s building was chosen in large part because it is adjacent to the county’s unemployment office.

Wilkes-Barre Councilwoman Kathy Kane said she has known Greco for many years before she entered political office.

“I can just wish him well. He works very hard at what he believes in,” Kane said.

Greco is the son of Hazleton area Dr. Victor Greco and known throughout the county for his business ventures, she said.

He owns Oyster restaurant and The Mines nightclub, both in Wilkes-Barre. Greco is also trying to open a pizzeria and bar in property he owns on the corner of North Main and East Union streets in the city.

He has clashed with city police and King’s College over issues related to The Mines and filed a lawsuit in January against the nightclub’s neighbor, Gonda’s Hoagies, alleging the owner of the restaurant and bar delayed the opening of his establishment, causing a loss of profit.

“I think he has issues with people who don’t agree with him, but I’ve had no issues with Tom,” Kane said.

The charges against Greco shocked Kane, but she said that’s become a pattern with the corruption probe.

“I’m surprised every time,” Kane said.

Harveys Lake activist Michelle Boice said she got to know Greco in the 1990s, when he operated the Bud Light Amphitheater and Tijuana Liquor Stand on the grounds of the former Hanson’s Amusement Park in the borough.

It was great in the beginning, with big-name acts like Willie Nelson and Kenny Loggins, she said.

“I loved the concerts, but like everything Thom Greco has done, the place became run down,” Boice said, adding that the same thing happened with his hotel and bar/restaurant business at the Market Street Square complex in Wilkes-Barre.

Boice described Greco as a “mover and shaker in the political field for many years.”

“I can’t say I was shocked that he was charged, but I am disappointed,” Boice said.

Staff writer Terrie Morgan-Besecker contributed to this report.