Click here to subscribe today or Login.
WILKES-BARRE — The tow truck driver finally got the hook, while the cop has copped a federal plea.
There were significant developments Tuesday in two long-simmering corruption cases in the city, involving embattled towing contractor Leo Glodzik and suspended police officer Jason Anthony.
Glodzik and Anthony were among five people indicted by a federal grand jury on bank fraud charges last summer.
Paperwork filed in the case indicates that federal prosecutors reached a plea agreement with Anthony, who is accused of forging a woman’s name to secure a loan uncovered during investigation of the Wilkes-Barre City Federal Credit Union.
In a separate development, Mayor Thomas M. Leighton announced formal termination of a towing contract between the city and Glodzik’s LAG Transport, after a Luzerne County Court theft sentence against Glodzik was affirmed by state Superior Court last week.
Anthony case
The plea agreement filed Tuesday calls for Anthony, 35, of Wilkes-Barre, to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, for which he faces up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
Anthony and his attorney, Joseph Nocito, signed the deal on Friday. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Olshefski signed off on the document on Tuesday.
U.S. District Court Judge A. Richard Caputo is not bound by the terms of the agreement, and may sentence Anthony up to the maximum.
A copy of the deal can be read with this story at timesleader.com.
Anthony, former city police officer Tino Ninotti, Amanda Magda, and Glodzik were indicted by a federal grand jury on bank fraud charges in August after federal investigators seized records from the credit union in March and April 2014.
A trial in the case is set to begin on April 20 in federal court in Wilkes-Barre. An earlier version of this story contained an incorrect date.
Magda, 32, of Wilkes-Barre, resigned her post as assistant manager at the credit union.
Anthony was accused of signing a woman’s name on a loan document in securing a $7,159 loan on Jan. 15, 2014. Anthony’s signature of the woman’s name was allegedly witnessed by Magda, the indictment says.
Glodzik is accused of giving Ninotti, 35, of Hunlock Township, a vehicle identification number when Ninotti applied for a $25,086.97 loan from the credit union to purchase a 2011 Dodge Ram pickup truck on March 23, 2012, according to the indictment.
The loan was not used to purchase the Dodge and the vehicle identification number Ninotti listed on the loan application as collateral did not match the pickup truck, the indictment says.
Magda was charged with witnessing Ninotti allegedly sign the loan application using another name of a credit union member.
A fifth defendant, credit union member Jeffrey Serafin, was indicted at the same time in a separate bank fraud case involving a fraudulent $10,000 loan. He pleaded guilty in January and faces sentencing later this month.
The credit union leases space in City Hall, but is not a city-run operation.
Glodzik case
The city’s stated reason for finally dropping Glodzik may be flawed, based on what his attorney told a Times Leader reporter on Tuesday.
In a statement released Tuesday, Leighton cited an arbitrator’s ruling, which he said justified the move after the convicted Glodzik had “exhausted his options for appeal.”
Not true, Glodzik’s lawyer says, because his client isn’t done fighting his sentence in a 2014 theft conviction.
Glodzik, 44, of Wilkes-Barre, had the exclusive towing contract with the city until his services were suspended in May 2013, when he was charged by Luzerne County detectives with stealing $2,100 from a car he towed.
A county jury found Glodzik guilty in May 2014. His sentence of three to 12 months in the county correctional facility has been delayed due to an appeal, which state Superior Court struck down last week.
According to a statement released by the mayor’s office on Tuesday, the decision to terminate LAG’s contractor hinged on language in a previous arbitrator’s ruling.
Last January, the mayor’s office said, arbitrator Lewis W. Wetzel determined that criminal charges against Glodzik “provided good cause” for suspending the contract, and “any disposition other than an innocent verdict” would give the mayor “good cause” to terminate it, the city’s statement indicated.
“Once Mr. Glodzik exhausted his options for appeal, I took immediate action to terminate LAG Transport’s agreement with the city,” Leighton said.
Joseph Sklarosky Sr., Glodzik’s lawyer, said his client plans to petition state Supreme Court to hear an appeal — which would be the final avenue, he conceded.
Following a council work session Tuesday evening, city Administrator Greg Barrouk consulted via cell phone with assistant city Solicitor Bill Vinsko, who noted that the state Supreme Court would have to agree to accept Glodzik’s petition to appeal in order for it to be considered.
Asked if Leighton believes the Supreme Court will decline to hear Glodzik’s appeal, Barrouk declined to give a direct answer, but said the mayor “is confident in the decision he made to terminate the contract based on the Superior Court’s decision.”
In fact, the mayor noted he has taken heat for not terminating Glodzik’s contract as soon as he was convicted last spring.
“There were a few individuals that criticized the delay in terminating the contract, however, I did so in the best interest of the taxpayers to avoid costly legal proceedings had he won his appeal,” Leighton said.
New towing contract
Effective immediately, the city has entered into an agreement with Falzone Towing Service, Inc., which had been the city’s temporary towing contractor.
Barrouk said the contract with Falzone has essentially the same terms as the contract with Glodzik, including the same $50,050 annual fee to be paid to the city. The five-year contract went into effect Tuesday and will be released publicly today, he said.
Barrouk said Leighton does not need council approval to award the contract, nor does he need to put the contract out for bid or seek proposals because towing is considered a professional service. He noted that Leighton was the first mayor to put the towing contract out for bid about 10 years ago, even though he was not required to do so.
Steve Mocarsky and James O’Malley, staff writers, contributed to this report.