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First Posted: 9/16/2009
By Terrie Morgan-Besecker [email protected] & Order Reporter
SCRANTON – Former judges and Mark Ciavarella will remain free pending trial on corruption charges despite concerns raised by federal prosecutors that the men are a flight risk and are depleting assets that could be seized if they’re convicted, a federal magistrate judge ruled Tuesday.
Formerly of Luzerne County, Mary Connors attended Tuesday’s arraignment for ex-judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella.
Fred Adams / For Times Leader
The former judges appeared before U.S. District Magistrate Judge Thomas Blewitt and entered pleas of not guilty to a 48-count indictment issued against them last week.
Assistant U.S. Attorney William Houser requested that Conahan and Ciavarella’s bail be increased to $500,000, arguing the chance the men would flee had increased given they face significantly more time in prison than was negotiated in plea agreements that were rejected by the court.
The plea agreements, which have been withdrawn, called for the judges to serve 87 months in prison. The charges in the indictment – racketeering, bribery, extortion, money laundering, mail fraud and tax evasion – carry a combined total maximum sentence of 689 years in prison.
“This is a different situation. There’s much more at stake,” Houser said.
Houser said there’s also evidence that Conahan and Ciavarella had taken steps to shield money that might be subject to forfeiture.
He noted Ciavarella sold his Mountain Top home and transferred a “large sum” of money to his daughter, Lauren, in 2008. She then purchased a town home in Kingston in her name. Ciavarella and his wife reside there with Lauren and her husband.
As for Conahan, Houser said Conahan was previously recorded by federal agents discussing the possibility he would be sued. Conahan stated he did not care because he was “judgment proof.”
Ciavarella’s attorney, William Ruzzo, and Conahan’s attorney, Philip Gelso, maintained the men have fully complied with all conditions placed on them following their arrests in January, proving they are not a flight risk.
Ruzzo also defended Ciavarella’s transfer of money to his daughter, indicating he made the transfer because she was getting married and wanted to purchase a home. He also noted that prosecutors have been aware of that transfer for months.
“It’s no big secret. There’s a record of it,” Ruzzo said. “If someone was acting to hide an asset, they’d certainly do a better job.”
Gelso said Conahan’s “judgment proof” statement no way indicated he was trying to hide or deplete assets. The statement was made in July 2008, months before he was charged, and dealt with a potential civil suit, Gelso said.
Blewitt rejected the request to increase bail and allowed the men to remain free under virtually the same conditions that were placed upon them by U.S. District Judge Edwin Kosik after they entered conditional guilty pleas in February. Those conditions included the posting of a $1 million bond secured by a Florida condominium owned by the ex-judges’ wives.
The men initially agreed to plead guilty to charges of honest services fraud and tax evasion. The plea deal fell apart in July, however, after Kosik rejected the terms of the deal. They withdrew their guilty pleas on Aug. 24. Prosecutors then presented the case to a grand jury, which handed up an indictment on Sept. 9.
Conahan and Ciavarella declined comment following the brief hearing before Blewitt.
The former judges were swarmed by the media as they entered and exited the courthouse. The scene was far calmer than their first appearance in February, when a mob of angry parents and juveniles shouted derogatory comments at them.
Only a handful of parents attended Tuesday’s hearing. Courthouse personnel had prepared for a much larger crowd, setting up a video feed to a secondary courtroom. Approximately 10 people were in that courtroom as the hearing began.
One of those people included Mary Connors, a former Luzerne County resident who alleges Conahan has engaged in corrupt activity involving the county’s Orphan’s Court, which handles family matters.
Connors is continuing to appeal a ruling Conahan made regarding her mother, Mary Connors, that gave control of the elderly woman’s care and estate to an outside agency.
“They just devastated people. I don’t think they have any conscience at all,” Connors said following the hearing.
She said she was disappointed that Blewitt allowed the former judges to remain free pending trial.
“If they flee to a country without extradition, what will (the government) do?” Connors asked.
The indictment accuses the former judges of improperly accepting $2.8 million in payments from Robert Powell, the onetime co-owner of the PA Child Care and Western PA Child Care juvenile detention centers; and Robert Mericle, the contractor who built the facilities.
Prosecutors allege Conahan and Ciavarella took various judicial actions that benefited the centers, including Conahan’s decision in 2002 to close the county-run facility.
Ciavarella, the county’s longtime juvenile judge, ensured PA and Western PA Child Care maintained a high occupancy rate by incarcerating juveniles, even when juvenile probation officials recommended against detention, prosecutors allege. He then extorted money from Powell, threatening to stop sending juveniles there if Powell did not pay up, prosecutors say.
The case will now proceed through the normal criminal trial procedure. Prosecutors will be required to turn over certain evidence gathered as part of the lengthy investigation. Various pre-trial motions are also expected to be filed. Legal experts have predicted it will be at least a year before the case goes to trial, assuming another plea deal is not negotiated.
To see additional photos, visit www.times
leader.com
Terrie Morgan-Besecker, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 570-829-7179.
