Post by What Justice on May 14, 2010 8:03:42 GMT -5
Feds: Attorney Taped Pa. Judges Discussing Plot
SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) ― Two former county judges discussed receiving kickbacks and plotted perjury with the owner of a private juvenile detention facility, who recorded the conversations, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors on Tuesday filed a brief including transcripts of conversations they say were between attorney Robert Powell and former Luzerne County judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella.
The judges have been accused of taking $2.8 million in kickbacks from Powell and the builder of the detention center to send youth offenders to certain for-profit detention facilities. The scandal prompted the state Supreme Court to vacate thousands of juvenile convictions.
Prosecutors say the transcripts show the judges discussing the payments and scheming to commit perjury.
Federal prosecutors said Conahan met with Powell in July 2008 to discuss how they and Ciavarella could thwart the investigation into their financial connections to the PA Child Care juvenile detention center, which was then co-owned by Powell.
"I'd never do anything to hurt you, but I never got the cash from anybody. That's the story, and you better stick to it," Conahan told Powell, who had become a federal informant and was recording the conversation, according to a transcript included in the brief.
"I'll stick to it," replied Powell, according to the transcript from the meeting, one of six conversations recorded between July and September 2008.
Conahan last month agreed to plead guilty to a federal racketeering charge. Ciavarella has maintained his innocence and is awaiting trial.
cbs3.com/wireapnewspa/Prosecutors.Pa.judges.2.1690459.html
SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) ― Two former county judges discussed receiving kickbacks and plotted perjury with the owner of a private juvenile detention facility, who recorded the conversations, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors on Tuesday filed a brief including transcripts of conversations they say were between attorney Robert Powell and former Luzerne County judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella.
The judges have been accused of taking $2.8 million in kickbacks from Powell and the builder of the detention center to send youth offenders to certain for-profit detention facilities. The scandal prompted the state Supreme Court to vacate thousands of juvenile convictions.
Prosecutors say the transcripts show the judges discussing the payments and scheming to commit perjury.
Federal prosecutors said Conahan met with Powell in July 2008 to discuss how they and Ciavarella could thwart the investigation into their financial connections to the PA Child Care juvenile detention center, which was then co-owned by Powell.
"I'd never do anything to hurt you, but I never got the cash from anybody. That's the story, and you better stick to it," Conahan told Powell, who had become a federal informant and was recording the conversation, according to a transcript included in the brief.
"I'll stick to it," replied Powell, according to the transcript from the meeting, one of six conversations recorded between July and September 2008.
Conahan last month agreed to plead guilty to a federal racketeering charge. Ciavarella has maintained his innocence and is awaiting trial.
cbs3.com/wireapnewspa/Prosecutors.Pa.judges.2.1690459.html