Former Judge Faces Corruption Trial in Scranton Federal Courthouse

It's amusing now to be reading the "tweets" of Mike Sisak of the Citizen's Voice, coming from the William J. Nealon Federal Courthouse in Scranton, Pa. Sisak's reporting the trial of former Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella on 39 counts involving bribery, money laundering, and a variety of other public corruption charges.

It's beginning to sound just like the Scranton where I used to work several years ago. A big little city where, even if you don't know someone, you know someone who knows that someone.

People not only tend to know their neighbors, but they know who owns the businesses and who has influence with the politicians and officials. The coziness of relationships in the Scranton Wilkes-Barre corridor can be seen in the participation of Jill A. Moran, a law partner of attorney Robert J. Powell.

Powell was a key player in a scheme that saw two judges disgraced and charged with public corruption.

Former Luzerne County judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael T. Conahan allegedley took kickbacks from Robert Mericle, the developer and building of the PA Child Care facility, and from Attorney Robert Powell, who operated the facility.

Ciavarella adjudicated the cases of hundreds of youthful offenders, and sent them to PA Child Care, often without due process. He was rewarded with money, sometimes packaged in Fed-Ex boxes, and brought to his home.

The Citizen's Voice describes Jill Moran's participation and her long time relationship with former Judge Michael T. Conahan, who "used to babysit her as a child." According to the newspaper account, Judge Conahan suggested the grown-up Moran to send her resume to Powell. She got the job, eventually became Powell's law partner, and later became a courier of money paid to Ciavarelli.

Moran testified in court last week as to how she was asked by Powell to deliver Fed-Ex money packages to Conahan at home. Powell had earlier explained how he had been the middle-man, the person who directed kickback money to Conahan and Ciavarelli. To transport the money, he enlisted law partner Moran, and Judge Conahan's tipstaff, Nick Callen.

Powell says he was an unwitting participant, extorted by the greedy judges who wouldn't let him alone until he paid them with a portion of the state and federal payments to PA Child Care. Oh, and in clandestine meetings with judges Ciavarella and Conahan, Powell says he never heard the words "bribery" or "kickback," according to court testimony.

Powell told the court he was helpless to defend himself and fearful of the judges with whom he allegedly colluded in the "kids-for-cash" detention racket. Ciavarella had a reputation of being tough on crime, so it surprised no one whenever he'd hurry a kid into a juvenile facility, sometimes for crimes little worse than failing to brush their teeth.

Asked why he didn't sever his relationships with Conahan and Ciavarella, Powell told the court he was afraid of the judges and their associates. Reporter Sisak quotes Powell in a courtroom Tweet:

"They knew politicians and they knew mobsters and they flaunted their relationships with both of them ."

A half-truth plays better in a court-room than a good lie. Powell portrayed himself as a victim caught up in a nefarious system with the spectre of a mob godfather somewhere off camera pulling the strings. He later cooperated with the federal investigation by wearing a wire to meetings with Conahan and Ciavarella..

In return for reduced prison time, Powell pleaded guilty to aiding a conspiracy and failing to report a felony. He also had to give up his million dollar yacht in a display of prosecutorial tough love.

The popular comedy "The Office" does a good job of presenting the provincial culture of Scranton, but it's a portrait without teeth. The real Scranton has sharp teeth.