Pa. Judge Gets 28 Years in "Kids-for-Cash" Scandal

Pa. Judge Gets 28 Years in "Kids-for-Cash" Scandal

www.ticklethewire.com

Common Pleas Judge Mark A. Ciaverella of Luzerne Co., Pa., in one of the more shameful displays of judicial digression, got lucrative kickbacks from private juvenile detention centers after sending scores of children there, some who should have not been incarcerated.

(visit the link for the full news article)

So here's the deal... these two men Ciavarella and his co-defendant, Judge Michael Conahan... conspired to take $2 million in bribes from the builder of the PA Child Care and Western PA Child Care detention centers.

From 2003 to 2008 judge Michael Conahan sent around 5000 kids to Juvy many of them who did nothing wrong... Why you may ask would they do that???

in some cases these private Child detention centers make upwards of $125 per child, per day... you do that math to how much money was made at tax payer expense...

This judge was given 28 years in prison and orders to pay pay about $1.2 million in restitution.... score one for the good guys but look at the damage these two men did to those 5,000 kids.....

www.ticklethewire.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Edit to add one more tidbit

The evidence established that Judge Conahan closed the Luzerne County Juvenile Detention Facility when he was chief judge and helped arrange the financing for the private facilities; that Ciavarella, as juvenile court judge, sent juveniles to those facilities; that both men obstructed efforts to question the county’s use of the facilities and their financial relationships with Mericle and Powell; and both judges used bank accounts, straw parties and real estate vacation property to hide and launder payments received from Mericle and Powell.

That guy is NOT going to have fun in prison!

Well earned sentence though and fully agree, chalk one up to the good guys!

Hopefully this will cause the authorities to question the whole "prison for profit" model.

reply to post by DaddyBare


Question for you DaddyBare......Do you know where that money goes IF the people ever pay it back??

This question is something I always wondered, but just assumed it lined the pockets of someone.....Why wouldn't the taxpayers of PA get more of a tax return back for their tax money going toward this scam in the first place??

There was an episode of Law & Order: SVU with this exact same plot a few years back. In fact the detention center where the judge was sending kids was in Pennsylvania. Eerie.

Originally posted by PW229
That guy is NOT going to have fun in prison!

Well earned sentence though and fully agree, chalk one up to the good guys!

Hopefully this will cause the authorities to question the whole "prison for profit" model.

if there is any justice in this country...
his first new friend in prison will be the father, uncle or older brother of one of these kids he ramrodded into a detention center

reply to post by Chrisfishenstein


Well when it comes to a corporation...
if a judge orders a repayment... the corporation can simply file for bankruptcy....

In February, after an 11 day trial in Scranton, a federal jury found Ciavarella guilty on 12 of 39 counts: racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to defraud the United States, four counts of honest services mail fraud, and four counts of filing false income tax returns.

Obviously these guys know how to hide their money

are they going to let the kids out now?

Originally posted by RogerT
are they going to let the kids out now?

yes...
Pennsylvania Supreme Court tossed roughly 5,000 convictions Ciavarella issued between 2003 and 2008

From my area actually. He is getting what he deserved. I'm pretty sure one or more than one of those kids committed suicide for being wrongly sent to a detention center... shameful.

At least some of them will have their records expunged.

Clean Slates for Youths Sentenced Fraudulently

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania on Thursday ordered the slate cleaned for hundreds of youths who had been sentenced by a corrupt judge.

I wonder if they will now have the right to sue. There was a worry suing would jeopardise a fair trial. Well, trial over, let them sue away!

reply to post by PW229


we would hope that they seek some form of redress...
but suing this judge might be pointless... See I don't think... given his crime... that's he's gonna last to long in general population.... know what I mean

Right around my area (Pittsburgh) as well. I remember hearing about these allegations quite some time ago and thinking (As an ex con myself) how truly frightening & damaging these wrongful incarcerations must be to these youths and that as despicable as this is the "Judge" would probably walk away from this unscathed sans a little egg on his face. This being the first I have hard of the verdict I would just like to thank you as this is as someone stated earlier quite a score for the little guy and by far the first thread on this site to actually make me feel good since I do not know when. S&F my good man.

Trowa

it looks like burnt bacon isn't the only thong on the menu, now....roasted judge has just been added as a side dish..lmao

The reality is that more than likely he will due 2/3 of the sentence and it will all be in protective custody, so no one can harm him and thus his family can't sue the prison for liable.

Utterly disgusting.
He deserves life in prison.

reply to post by CodyOutlaw


it's kind of a technicality but a twenty year sentence Is a life sentence... if he lives that long he might get out in ten... if he's a good boy???

I live 5 minutes from that courthouse a bunch of crooks all of them the most corrupt county in PA..... I'm glad they gave him that sentence, the FBI came down and had a crackdown on a lot of people, pretty much 90% of the people working their were doing illegal activites!

10 years in prison is incredibly stressful even for those that are hardened to it. For a privileged judge, 10 hours will be almost unbearable. He'll get used to it, he'll adapt himself to the ebb and flow of prison life but he will NEVER be able to turn his back, he will NEVER be able to trust a single soul. Should he survive the experience he will come out knowing what he put those young people through and justice will have been served.

reply to post by PW229


inmates are gonna have a pretty dim view of a judge that sold out kids for money..
esp if some of those kids were theirs...
or if one of the CO's had a kid locked up by mistake......

either way you look at it he's in for one wild ride..