Winter Woman
Well-Known Member
By ASHBY JONES
A former Pennsylvania county judge was sentenced to 28 years in prison Thursday following a corruption scandal in which he was convicted of illegally taking nearly $1 million from a builder of juvenile-detention facilities.
In February, a federal jury in Scranton, Pa., found the former judge, Mark Ciavarella, 61, guilty on 12 charges related to an alleged scheme in which prosecutors said he sentenced juveniles to private detention facilities in exchange for payments. He was convicted of racketeering, money laundering and conspiracy, but acquitted on 27 charges, including bribery and extortion.
Another judge, Michael Conahan, pleaded guilty last year to a racketeering charge in connection with the alleged scheme. He is awaiting sentencing.
About two years after the allegations emerged in 2007, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ordered all of Mr. Ciavarella's adjudications involving children over a five-year period to be vacated. That wiped clean the records of about 4,000 juveniles, ranging from 10 to 18 years old.
To the end, Mr. Ciavarella maintained he did nothing wrong. On Thursday, before the sentencing hearing, he reiterated his claim that he never sent juveniles to detention centers in exchange for money.
William Ruzzo, Mr. Ciavarella's lawyer, called the sentence for his client "much too harsh," noting that it amounted to a life sentence. "This was a nonviolent offense. I've had people convicted of murder who received as little as a six-to-12-year sentence," he said, adding that he plans to appeal the conviction.
"Mr. Ciavarella abused his position of trust and inflicted a deep and lasting wound on the community he vowed to service," said U.S. Attorney Peter Smith, after the sentencing.
A presentence report prepared by the U.S. Probation Office concluded that, under federal sentencing guidelines, Mr. Ciavarella was eligible for a life sentence. His lawyers argued a lengthy sentence was inappropriate.
There is no parole in the federal system, so U.S. District Judge Edwin Kosik's 28-year sentence will likely keep Mr. Ciavarella behind bars until he is 89.
At the trial, prosecutors alleged that in 2000, Mr. Ciavarella approached Robert Powell, a Luzerne County, Pa., lawyer and developer, and encouraged him to facilitate the building of two new private juvenile-detention centers, claiming that he didn't like the existing county-run facility.
The centers were built. Between June 2000 and the end of April 2007, Messrs. Ciavarella and Conahan collected about $2.8 million from Mr. Powell and others in exchange for decisions from the bench that kept juveniles flowing into the detention centers, prosecutors alleged.
In that time, Mr. Ciavarella sentenced thousands of young people to the detention centers, often for lengthy stays for relatively minor infractions.
In 2009, Mr. Powell pleaded guilty to failing to report a felony and helping cover up tax fraud. He hasn't been sentenced.
A former Pennsylvania county judge was sentenced to 28 years in prison Thursday following a corruption scandal in which he was convicted of illegally taking nearly $1 million from a builder of juvenile-detention facilities.
In February, a federal jury in Scranton, Pa., found the former judge, Mark Ciavarella, 61, guilty on 12 charges related to an alleged scheme in which prosecutors said he sentenced juveniles to private detention facilities in exchange for payments. He was convicted of racketeering, money laundering and conspiracy, but acquitted on 27 charges, including bribery and extortion.
Another judge, Michael Conahan, pleaded guilty last year to a racketeering charge in connection with the alleged scheme. He is awaiting sentencing.
About two years after the allegations emerged in 2007, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ordered all of Mr. Ciavarella's adjudications involving children over a five-year period to be vacated. That wiped clean the records of about 4,000 juveniles, ranging from 10 to 18 years old.
To the end, Mr. Ciavarella maintained he did nothing wrong. On Thursday, before the sentencing hearing, he reiterated his claim that he never sent juveniles to detention centers in exchange for money.
William Ruzzo, Mr. Ciavarella's lawyer, called the sentence for his client "much too harsh," noting that it amounted to a life sentence. "This was a nonviolent offense. I've had people convicted of murder who received as little as a six-to-12-year sentence," he said, adding that he plans to appeal the conviction.
"Mr. Ciavarella abused his position of trust and inflicted a deep and lasting wound on the community he vowed to service," said U.S. Attorney Peter Smith, after the sentencing.
A presentence report prepared by the U.S. Probation Office concluded that, under federal sentencing guidelines, Mr. Ciavarella was eligible for a life sentence. His lawyers argued a lengthy sentence was inappropriate.
There is no parole in the federal system, so U.S. District Judge Edwin Kosik's 28-year sentence will likely keep Mr. Ciavarella behind bars until he is 89.
At the trial, prosecutors alleged that in 2000, Mr. Ciavarella approached Robert Powell, a Luzerne County, Pa., lawyer and developer, and encouraged him to facilitate the building of two new private juvenile-detention centers, claiming that he didn't like the existing county-run facility.
The centers were built. Between June 2000 and the end of April 2007, Messrs. Ciavarella and Conahan collected about $2.8 million from Mr. Powell and others in exchange for decisions from the bench that kept juveniles flowing into the detention centers, prosecutors alleged.
In that time, Mr. Ciavarella sentenced thousands of young people to the detention centers, often for lengthy stays for relatively minor infractions.
In 2009, Mr. Powell pleaded guilty to failing to report a felony and helping cover up tax fraud. He hasn't been sentenced.
