Mother turns her focus to families - VIDEO

By Terrie Morgan-Besecker tmorgan@timesleader.comLaw & Order Reporter

WILKES-BARRE – Having spoken with national media outlets regarding her confrontation of former Judge , Sandy Fonzo said she’s now turning her attention to getting families who believed they were harmed by him to attend his sentencing.

Fonzo

Fonzo, 41, of Wilkes-Barre, appeared on several network and cable television programs, including NBC’s “Today” show and news programs of MSNBC and CNN’s “Headline News.”

Her story garnered national attention after video of her outburst against Ciavarella following the conclusion of his trial on Feb. 18 aired on local television stations and The Times Leader’s website.

Fonzo said she didn’t plan the outburst, and never expected it would draw so much attention. She said she hopes the publicity will encourage families to show up at Ciavarella’s sentencing and/or write letters to U.S. District Judge Edwin Kosik, urging him to impose a stiff sentence.

“While I have a voice, I want something positive to come from this,” she said. “I want thousands of people to be at that sentencing till we wrap around the building. I want him to walk through all the people he had a negative impact on, to hear their voices, see their pain.”

Ciavarella was convicted of 12 of the 39 charges filed against him, including racketeering and money laundering. Those charges stemmed from his acceptance of a nearly $1 million “finders fee” from local developer Robert Mericle, who built the PA Child Care Center in Pittston Township. No sentencing date has been set yet.

Fonzo’s son, Edward Kenzakoski III, was among the juveniles Ciavarella sent to the PA Child Care.

Kenzakoski, 23, fatally shot himself on June 1. In her outburst, Fonzo blamed Ciavarella, who incarcerated the youth when he was age 17 for possession of drug paraphernalia, for causing his death.

Fonzo acknowledged her son had personal troubles. He had several run-ins with the law, starting with an underage-drinking citation at age 14 and harassment citation at age 16.

In 2008 he was convicted of aggravated assault for severely beating two men with whom he got into a dispute at an outdoor party. He was also arrested in 2004 for a fight with another teen, but was acquitted of that charge at trial.

The night before he died, Kenzakoski had an argument with his girlfriend and father regarding his use of alcohol, according to the coroner’s report of his death.

Fonzo said she doesn’t blame Ciavarella for all her son’s problems, but is convinced his decision to incarcerate him for a first-time, minor offense was the catalyst that led to the downward spiral of his life.

Fonzo said that was a turning point for her son, a varsity wrestler who was hoping to qualify for the state tournament and earn a college scholarship. He lost all of that after he was incarcerated and never graduated.

“He came out from there and his spirit was gone. He was depressed, had anger issues and drank. It just snowballed from there,” she said. “It sent him down this negative, violent path that he could not recover from.”

She said she pleaded with Ciavarella to let him remain home and obtain outpatient counseling, but he wouldn’t hear of it.

“They could have done something to help him learn instead of locking him up in some godforsaken facility,” Fonzo said. “I’m the first one to say he made mistakes. But so has every other kid in the country. What I’m saying is he was a kid. Ciavarella was an adult. He is the one who is supposed to do the right thing by him.”

Since she went public, she has been contacted by numerous people worldwide who have told her stories about other juveniles who have been subjected to unjust punishment. She’s continuing to speak out to in hopes of exposing those issues.

“It’s not just me and my kid’s story. There are hundreds of these stories,” she said. “I don’t want his death to be in vain.”

Fonzo and her brother, Rick Singer, are also seeking stories from families for use in a not-for-profit book Singer is writing.

Singer is the author or several self-help books. He is compiling stories for a new book, the proceeds from which will be used to fund programs to assist juveniles who were impacted by the juvenile justice scandal.

For more information, e-mail Singer at RAS9999@aol.com.