Ex-Pa. judge pleads guilty in kids-for-cash scheme

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"A former county judge in northeastern Pennsylvania has pleaded guilty to a racketeering conspiracy charge in a kickback scheme that put juvenile defendants behind bars.

The Citizens' Voice of Wilkes-Barre reports that Michael Conahan faces up to 20 years in prison after his plea Friday.

The plea agreement does not say if Conahan will testify against a second former Luzerne County judge charged in the case, Mark Ciavarella (shiv-uh-RELL-uh) Jr.

Prosecutors accuse the two judges of taking $2.8 million from two for-profit detention facilities. They say young defendants in Luzerne County were routinely locked up after hearings without defense lawyers.

Ciavarella's attorney says his client maintains his innocence and will go to trial."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5itWVMibvMht_cZI-MbMwLm66QDFgD9H4S3LO3


Conahan pleads guilty to racketeering charge

<snip>

"Former Luzerne County President Judge Michael T. Conahan moved one step closer to a federal prison cell this morning with his guilty plea to a racketeering conspiracy charge in U.S. District Court in Scranton.

Conahan withdrew a previous guilty plea last summer after U.S. District Judge Edwin M. Kosik judge rejected the 87-month jail term spelled out in his plea agreement. That agreement allowed him to back out if he was dissatisfied with his sentence.

His new agreement with prosecutors, signed in April, has no escape clause and Conahan will face up to 20 years when he is sentenced by Kosik, who accepted his guilty plea today.

The new agreement also lacks any indication of whether Conahan will testify against his co-defendant, former judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. or cooperate with federal investigators conducting an ongoing corruption probe that has ensnared 27 local government officials and contractors since January 2009."

<snip>

"Conahan, 58, and Ciavarella, 60, were charged in January 2009 with accepting $2.8 million from the builder and owner of a for-profit detention center that housed county juveniles.

Prosecutors say Conahan, as president judge, closed a county-owned center and signed a secret agreement to utilize the for-profit center while Ciavarella, as juvenile court judge, ensured a steady flow of detainees."

http://citizensvoice.com/conahan-pleads-guilty-to-racketeering-charge-1.900067

[hatrack]

1. Every minute of the full 20 years, behind bars.

Every fucking minute.

[Vinnie From Indy]

2. Just like the Fed Judge that ruled about the offshore drilling moratorium

having a substantial investment in the continued drilling operations in the Gulf. Injecting the profit motive into judicial decisions makes us just another banana republic.

[LiberalFighter]

3. How many other scams do judges participate in to benefit financially?

[slampoet]

4. Kidknapping a minor used to be a Death penalty offense.

But be a judge and you can do it DOZENS of times for profit and only serve a few decades while your wife gets to keep the cash.

BRAVO AMERICA


I'm sure he will serve less time that someone who raped a minor and that fact is many of his victims DID get raped behind bars and he is the reason why.


If i ever find out that he got shivved in prision I will send a carton of cigs to the person who did it.

[anigbrowl]

11. (citation needed)

I think you are imagining things wet the death penalty claim. Do not read this as a defense of these corrupt judges.

[slampoet]

17. Aggravated kidnapping is still a death penalty offense in CO, ID, IL, MO, and MT

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/death-penalty-offenses-other-murder


Also back in the 1930's a lot of other states had this on the books due to the publicity over the Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping case.

[anigbrowl]

18. I'm not sure this would qualify, but..

...I have been wondering why they're not being charged with a separate offense for every individual involved. They should be facing >150 year terms.

[slampoet]

19. Exactly my thought.

[comeCOMMOTIONocean]

5. Karma.

Michael Moore included this case from the children's perspectives in his latest film "Capitalism: A Love Story". It was so unjust what Judge Civarello and Judge Conahan did to these poor kids. They both deserve to know what it feels like to lose precious time in their lives to a sentence behind bars. Unfortunately for them, they wont be going to PA Child's Care, they'll be going to prison.

[JustAnotherGen]

7. That's what I thought

I'm glad to read this! And thanks to MM - I was even aware.


These guys had it coming . . .

[Lance_Boyle]

6. What happens to the money?

Do these scumfucks' families get to keep their ill-gotten booty?

[Dragonbreathp9d]

8. I hope he gets buggered by a bigger boy

[Liberal_in_LA]

9. good!

[Wilms]

10. .

[ConsAreLiars]

12. Good to see some upper-lower level greedy torturing-for-money psychopaths get

convicted. If they get less than the maximum (I think that is less than caught with pot 3X in some places), the judge is another abettor.

And what about those who ordered the mass murdering in Afghanistan and Iraq. and who continue them?

[uponit7771]

13. "for-profit detention facilities"

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

14. Evil incarnate. It's like something out of a gothic horror novel.

I remember this story when it first came out.

This is some real depravity. To think that these monsters were Judges is just mind blowing.

[JHB]

15. How obvious does it need to be?

Prisons should not turn a profit. It provides a monetary incentive for wrongful incarceration, as happened here.

[Chef Eric]

16. +1 nt