Did Conahan Sabatoge Judge Olszewski?

'Party' politics: Judge blames clash for photo's release

By Dave Janoski (Projects Editor)
Published: September 25, 2009

Special to Times-Shamrock Newspapers Luzerne County Judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr., left, is all smiles during a party in June 2005 with Forty Fort attorney John H. Kennedy, convicted drug dealer Ronald Belletiere, then-county Judge Michael T. Conahan at a condominium in Florida. Olszewski, who is pursuing a second, 10-year term believes the photo was submitted to damage his retention campaign.

Luzerne County Judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. said a photo of him partying with a convicted drug dealer and former judge/accused racketeer Michael T. Conahan was leaked to media outlets Thursday to damage his retention campaign.

Olszewski said he was unaware of either man's alleged criminal activities when the photo was taken in 2005.

"It's obviously being done to embarrass me before the election," Olszewski said of the photo, which shows him, Conahan, the convicted dealer and a Luzerne County attorney holding drinks and liquor bottles in a Florida condominium that Conahan allegedly used to launder kickbacks in the kids-for-cash case.

In a tense, hour-long interview with The Citizens' Voice editors and reporters Thursday, Olszewski said he believes the June 2005 photo was mailed anonymously to the media by Conahan and/or his codefendant, former county Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. to hurt his bid for a second 10-year term in November.

"If you publish this, you're doing Mark's bidding," Olszewski said. "You're doing what the most corrupt judges in the world want you to do."

Olszewski said he clashed with Ciavarella during Ciavarella's last months as president judge, before Ciavarella and Conahan were charged in the kids-for-cash scandal in January. Olszewski said he disagreed with a lawsuit Ciavarella filed against the county commissioners to stall proposed cuts in court staffing and other administrative decisions made by Ciavarella.

Olszewski said shortly after Ciavarella's arrest in January, Ciavarella left him a "rambling," angry voice mail message "castigating" him for comments he made to the media about Ciavarella's tenure as president judge.

Olszewski said three people have told him Ciavarella is still "seething" over the criticism.

Through his attorney, Al Flora Jr., Ciavarella said the accusation that he was the source of the photo was "absolutely not true." Conahan declined comment through his attorney.

The two former judges face racketeering, bribery, money laundering and other charges for allegedly accepting $2.8 million in kickbacks in 2003-2006 for helping two for-profit juvenile detention centers secure county contracts. Some of the money was deposited with a company controlled by the judges that owns the condo and falsely recorded as rental payments, federal prosecutors say.

Olszewski said he was unaware of the judges' alleged kickbacks scheme in 2005 when he was a guest at the condo for a golfing trip that lasted several days. He said he was also unaware that a visitor to the condo, Ronald Belletiere, was a convicted drug dealer, although Conahan told him near the end of the trip that Belletiere had been rehabilitated following a sentence for "minor" drug charges.

"If I thought Judge Conahan, who was president judge, was committing a crime, not in a billion years would I have been anywhere near him," Olszewski said. Olszewski said he was aware of allegations made in the 1990s that Conahan had ties to drug dealers, but a state Judicial Conduct Board investigation never yielded any action against the judge.

Conahan's name surfaced during Belletiere's 1991 federal trial in the "Empire" drug case involving cocaine trafficking in Hazleton in the 1980s, when Conahan was a magisterial district judge in the city. A government witness in U.S. District Court in Scranton alleged Conahan had put him in touch with Belletiere as a source for cocaine.

Conahan was never charged in the case, but during a "sidebar" conversation between lawyers and the presiding judge out of the jury's earshot, a prosecutor called Conahan an "unindicted co-conspirator" in the case, according to a transcript.

Belletiere and two other figures in the Empire case gave information about an unnamed "public official" to the state Judicial Conduct Board, attorneys in the case said in 1994, just months after Conahan's election to the Luzerne County bench.

In August 1994, Conahan held a press conference to deny he had referred anyone to Belletiere to buy drugs, but acknowledged knowing Belletiere. The conduct board has never confirmed that it investigated Conahan over the allegations.

Belletiere, who was released from prison in 1995, could not be reached for comment Thursday,

Olszewski said it was only in July 2008, when The Citizens' Voice reported that Conahan's wife, Barbara, owned an interest in a South Florida used-car business that Belletiere operated in 2004-2007, that he made the connection between Belletiere and allegations against Conahan in the Empire drug case. Olszewski said that by then, the federal investigation into Ciavarella and Conahan was public knowledge and he did not confront Conahan.

"I wanted to in the worst way, but what would be the point? Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor," Olszewski said.

Olszewski's account of the Florida trip was corroborated by John H. Kennedy, a Forty Fort attorney who was also on the trip.

Kennedy, Olszewski and their dates flew with Conahan and his wife to Florida aboard a private jet owned by Hazleton businessman Joseph Gans. Conahan had purchased miles on the jet as a present to his wife, Kennedy said. Efforts to reach Gans were unsuccessful Thursday.

Olszewski said he paid Conahan $400 for his own flight. Kennedy and the two women who accompanied them did not pay, according to Kennedy and Olszewski, who was estranged from his first wife at the time.

Kennedy said the 2005 visit to the condo, his first and last, was offered to him by Conahan after he supplied free legal representation to the county's court stenographers during a salary dispute with the county controller's office.

Kennedy said he was unaware of Conahan's and Belletiere's alleged ties to the Empire drug case.

"I did not connect the dots. I was not aware of the accusation of ties between him and Conahan," Kennedy said.

Olszewski, a former Luzerne County district attorney and the son of a former state Superior Court judge, said Conahan did a "terrible thing" by placing him in the company of a drug felon.

"The only relation I ever had with drug dealers was to prosecute them and as a judge to sentence them after they've been found guilty by a jury," Olszewski said.

"I had a father who was the most honest judge in the world. I thought all judges were like that. I was wrong."

Michael R. Sisak, staff writer, contributed to this report.

Source Standard Speaker.com

St Bryan Of Luzerne County

A couple of weeks ago the trial of Harlow Cuadra ended with a guilty verdict in the murder of Bryan Kocis. It marked an end to a horrific time where man’s most base instincts came to light.

A brutal vicious murder that brought untold grief and horror to many people. There is no way to measure the loss of Bryan to those who loved him, those who knew him and cared about him. I understand that.

During the trial, and afterward a picture was painted of Bryan Kocis that could be summed up in the words of his sister on a blog after the verdict.

“Bryan was a good, honest person in a bad, dishonest business.”

The trial is over, the murderers have been brought to justice, it is time to clear the table here.

I spent 15 years of my life in this “business”. In that 15 years I worked with and knew many honorable and decent people. In those 15 years I never encountered a more reprehensible vile person that Bryan Kocis. I have been trying for days to decide what to write, so I have gone through countless emails, court documents, and my own anecdotal knowledge and came to some conclusions that I would like to share.

Lets start at the beginning. my friend Jerry Douglas would tell you there are two types of people who make porn, those that are in it for the work, and those that are in it for the boys.

It is obvious which one of those Bryan Kocis was.

In 2001 Bryan Kocis was arrested for videotaping himself having sex with a 15 year old boy. To hear his apologists tell it was a model that lied about his age. Let’s look at that for a moment. There was no Cobra Video at the time of the incident, that came later. Does anyone remember a series of video’s with the then 38 year old Bryan Kocis and young men ever going on the market?

Lets get real here.

Bryan was using the guise of making video’s to lure in young men. Somehow he managed to plead down and walk away and start a video company. Now that we see the judges in that county pleading guilty to various crimes, and one can see the atmosphere in that county then was not a good one for justice. Somehow Bryan Kocis walked away from a molestation charge and started a company shooting young men.

Bryan Kocis was a pariah in the porn business.

He relished that position and embraced it. He brought a 17 year old Brent Corrigan to Pennsylvania for the summer by assuring his mother, on an art school related pretext. So much for an honest man in a dis-honest business. In my 15 years again I never saw anything like that. A man fresh from a molestation situation has a 17 year old boy in his home all summer long.

Now it is possible that the reason he had Brent there was for bible studies, but more than likely it was not. We have here a pattern of an older man with the money and power using it for sexual purposes. You hear over and over again about the conniving Brent using Bryan.

No, sorry the 17 year old was the abused one here. Not the 40 year old with the money, the house, the transportation and the control. This is not a situation that is either normal, or acceptable in porn. It was in a word wrong.

My next point is one that infuriates me beyond words.

The issue of Brent Corrigan using a fake ID to make video’s, Brent the evil manipulator..Horseshit. It really does not matter a lick what Brent Corrigan did here, or his motivation for doing it. One of the first things I learned in porn was the younger looking the model the more ID you needed. No reputable person would EVER shoot anyone on the basis of an emailed picture of an ID. EVER.

If I had a model that looked questionable I would require 3 pieces of ID and ask for friends and references. That was the standard. My battles with Caryn Goldberg at Freshman magazine were legendary regarding models they thought looked under 18. They might have all the ID in the world and they would not shoot them.

My distributor demanded more than one ID, as did everyone else. Those of us that shot in the 18-23 YO age group were especially careful. We always went the extra mile.

The Jeff Browning episode was a strong reminder of the perils. If Brent Corrigan came to me with an emailed picture of an ID he would not have been shot. He would have been required to provide at least 3 pieces in hand for inspection and then some. This happened because Bryan did not care about what the others in the industry considered necessary. That was the failure here. The responsibility was in the producers hands.

Next point was the unprecedented way Bryan went after a 17 yo when Brent finally had enough and fled the abusive situation he was in. Make no mistake the mixture of sex and money and control was abuse in it’s purest form. At some point Brent realized that for his own survival he needed to flee this abusive controlling prick.

He was strong enough to get away and he drove away in the car Bryan gave him. Most people are not that strong, and they die in the abuse. Psychologically they die. They give in, they learn to “Take It Like A Bitch Boy”.

When Bryan did not get his way he was relentless and evil.

No one in porn ever acted like that. He sent people across the country to humiliate and try to destroy Brent.(photo at left) He both publicly and privately went after Brent in ways that were frankly abusive and repulsive. This is where we, the porn business, really let Brent down.

We stood silently by while this bully bullied. Falcon let him down. They promised to stand by him and they caved. If Chuck Holmes were alive he would have squished Kocis like a bug. They wanted to use him then abandoned him.

Eventually Brent had to work, had to eat and with no end in sight he and Grant decided to settle. They were alone, no one stood by them. I to this day regret I did not do so. I was at the time mired in my own hell that was devouring everything around me and I did not take the time.

I justified it in my own head by saying these are bareback people let them do themselves in. I was wrong. An abused person escaped from an abuser and we stood silent. They went to settle even when the “Honest man in a dishonest business” was double dealing them with their business partner. Despicable behavior from a despicable man. This honest man who started a bareback trend on lies for profit.

Bryan was murdered. There is no justification for that.

Jeffery Dahmer, and John Geoghan were murdered. It did not make them nice people. Like a bad episode of Perry Mason the first conclusion everyone thought of was it had to be Brent and Grant.

The speculation was relentless and the same people who supported Bryan during his life continued the abuse from the grave. What Brent and Grant did next was not to run and hide from it, but rather to do what needed to be done to bring murderers to justice.

It took courage to go to meet with people who you knew were cold blooded killers and could snap your neck and kill you long before the police watching could stop them. They did it, and they helped put murderers away. Yet in some places the abuse by Bryan Kocis continues. This image (sanitized) of Bryan Kocis, is part of that abuse.

I never in my 15 years touched a model. I am not saying that does not happen but those whose primary purpose is sex with the boys are a minority. It is sexual harassment and abuse.

Bryan Kocis talked with underage boys online all the time. I know of several. They could not have been the only ones. His business was getting into their pants as much as it was shooting them in porn. He was a predator and an abuser. His death did not change that or mitigate that.

More often than not I would talk a young man out of doing porn if I thought it was not something they should do. Many of us were like that. If your goal is to bed them, you come from a different place. He was not concerned with their welfare, he was concerned with their ass.

He was not an “Honest man in a dishonest business”

There are two points I would like to make. Had Bryan Kocis done what he should have when Brent was 17 there would have been no Brent Corrigan. Plain and simple. Does anyone think the moment he found out Brent was underage, he notified everyone and pulled the video’s back?

In the porn world I was in, Brent would have never been shot.

The second point is if Bryan had said to Brent Go for it. If you think there is a better world out there good luck. One learns in life there is no percentage in holding anyone back. Brent would have progressed or not, Bryan would have prospered as well. Instead he went on a rampage of evil bile that devoured everything around it. There would have been no contractual obligation to end. Bryan would still be alive.

Enough of St. Bryan of Luzerne County.

This man was evil. His legacy of Barebacking Twinks stands as a homage to the debased mind of a predator. We as an industry should protect the youngest in it. We should have stropped Bryan by speaking out. I will forever regret that I did not. What I will not do again is stand by and allow his abuse to be carried out from the grave.

Brent Corrigan was abused and was a hero in the end. He has more courage and class in his pinky than that abuser had in his entire being, and he should be admired for standing up and helping put Joe and Harlow away, and thanked for placing his life on the line to snare the murderers.

As for those that want to continue the abuse,

Shame on You!

Kevin Clarke

Kevin Clarke is the GayVn Award winning director of The American Way,American Way 2-Lust,The Heartland,A Young Man's World,Ashton Ryans B-Boys,The Seduction of a Surfer and The American City.

Kevin Clarke spent 15 years in the Gay Porn buisness directing some of the top selling Gay Adult DVD's and he has a unique perspective on Bryan Kocis.

Photo at left Kevin Clarke,Jerry Douglas,George DuRoy

Federal Probe of Corrupt Judges includes Insurance Fraud

A constant refrain from disgraced Judges Conahan and Ciavarella has been the one that yes we made mistakes but we were not really criminals. The continuing and widening federal probe into both men shows the lie in that claim of "We are Not Crooks"

Yes you are!

Both Judges are criminals,fraudsters and con men, they have swindled and embezzled millions of dollars to enrich themselves. The costs are staggering in one of the worst and egregious cases of Judicial Criminal behavior in recent US History.

Eastern Pennsylvania Taxpayers paid thru the nose for kickbacks and perverted Justice, then there is the cost of irreparable damage to Juveniles wrongly jailed (Kids sold for Cash),citizens who expected impartial justice and were defrauded, and finally the public shame and lack of trust in what should be a pillar of any Western Civilization..

The Rule Of Law, The American belief repeatedly shattered that Justice is blind.

In this case Lady Justice had her hands in the till!




Uninsured motorist benefits award looked at amid judicial corruption probe.

source Times Leader
By Terrie Morgan-Besecker
Law & Order Reporter

WILKES-BARRE – An attorney for an insurance company that’s challenging a controversial $500,000 award of uninsured motorist benefits to a man confirmed that federal authorities have asked him to provide information on the case.

James Haggerty of Philadelphia said the U.S. Attorney’s Office asked for certain documents in the case of Forester Vanderhoff versus Harleysville Insurance after The Times Leader published a story on March 8 detailing the insurance company’s continuing efforts to overturn the monetary award.

“We were asked to provide some matters of public record,” Haggerty said.

The case is among numerous arbitration awards issued in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties that have reportedly been under investigation by authorities in an ongoing probe of alleged judicial corruption.

A source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed federal authorities are now investigating uninsured motorist benefit claims filed in both counties.

The Legal Intelligencer, a Philadelphia-based law journal, reported Friday that the U.S. Attorney’s Office had issued a subpoena to Harleysville requesting a wide range of information regarding uninsured and underinsured motorist claims originating from the two counties.

The article, which quoted unnamed sources, said the subpoena sought all records identifying the plaintiff’s attorney, the arbitrators appointed and the amount of the award or settlement in all uninsured and underinsured motorist cases from Jan. 1, 2003, to present that were heard in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties.

The Intelligencer said the subpoena also requested any records relating to internal or insurance industry investigations regarding uninsured motorist claims in the two counties, as well as a list of all cases in which the appointment of a neural arbitrator was filed.

Several attorneys have previously told The Times Leader that insurance companies for years have questioned whether there was impropriety in the handling of uninsured motorist cases in Luzerne County based on the disproportionately high-dollar awards being rendered by arbitration panels.

The subpoena reported by the Intelligencer is the first indication that authorities have expanded the probe to include Lackawanna County.

U.S. Attorney Martin Carlson declined comment Monday, citing his policy to neither confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation.

Uninsured motorist insurance allows a person injured by a driver who has no or little insurance to seek to recover damages from their own insurance company.

Disputes over the amount of money due are decided by a three-member arbitration panel consisting of three attorneys – one appointed by the plaintiff, one by the defense and a third, neutral arbitrator chosen by both sides. If the defense and plaintiff can’t agree on the neutral, a judge can make the appointment.

Cases in Luzerne County came under increased scrutiny in the wake of the corruption charges recently filed against former judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella, who have admitted accepting kickbacks in exchange for rulings that favored a juvenile detention center’s owner and builder.

Robert Panowicz, a Wilkes-Barre attorney who represented Erie Insurance for decades, said allegations are that some plaintiffs’ attorneys have been in collusion with one another and certain judges, resulting in the appointment of neutral arbitrators who are not truly neutral.

Panowicz said he was interviewed several years ago by a fraud investigator with the National Insurance Crime Bureau, an agency funded by insurance companies, but never heard back about the status of the investigation.

In the Vanderhoff case, Haggerty had challenged Conahan’s determination that Vanderhoff’s testimony regarding the existence of a third vehicle at a crash scene was more credible than that of the other driver and a police officer.

Vanderhoff acknowledged he rear-ended a car driven by Ryan Piontkowski at the Sans Souci Parkway and West End Road in Hanover Township on Oct. 4, 2001. Several months after the accident, he filed a report with Harleysville in which he claimed a third, “phantom” vehicle pulled in front of Piontkowski, forcing him to stop abruptly and leaving Vanderhoff insufficient time to brake.

That allowed Vanderhoff to seek to recover uninsured motorist benefits based on the argument that the “phantom” vehicle was uninsured.

The problem, Haggerty argued, is Piontkowski denied there was a third vehicle. The investigating officer, Sgt. Andrew Kratz, also testified that neither Vanderhoff nor Piontkowski mentioned the third vehicle when he was investigating the crash.

Despite that, Conahan ruled Vanderhoff had told the officer of the third vehicle. That allowed the case to then go before an arbitration panel, which awarded Vanderhoff $500,000.

In a an interview earlier this month, Haggerty said he was stunned by the fact Conahan believed Vanderhoff – the only person who had something to gain – over Piontkowski and Kratz, who were disinterested parties.

“It appeared to be at odds with the evidence and testimony presented to the court,” Haggerty said.

Haggerty appealed to the state Superior Court, which overturned Conahan based on a separate argument that Vanderhoff had not reported the phantom vehicle within the required time frame. The state Supreme Court later agreed to hear an appeal of that ruling. The high court has not yet ruled on the matter.

The student who exposed America's cash for kids scandal

In just over one month the Luzerne County,Pennsylvania Judicial Corruption Scandal has reached every corner of the globe. I have tracked literally thousands of articles written, countless editorials asking myriad questions.

How did this happen in America?
What happened to the constitutional rights of these young people abrogated by Judaical fiat.
Why was there no oversight of such blatant Judicial chicanery?
Why did the Federal Government have to intervene?
Why was Pennsylvania incapable of correcting such an Injustice?
How many more Luzerne County's wait to be uncovered in Americas increasing dysfunctional and corrupt Judiciary?

Here is the latest from the Guardian which dispatched a reporter to Wilkes Barre...

Jailed for a MySpace parody, the student who exposed America's cash for kids scandal

Slapping a friend or having tantrum led to prison.

• Ed Pilkington in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
• The Guardian, Saturday 7 March 2009

Hillary Transue was 14 when she carried out her prank. She built a hoax MySpace page in which she posed as the vice-principal of her school, poking fun at her strictness. At the bottom of the page she added a disclaimer just to make sure everyone knew it was a joke. "When you find this I hope you have a sense of humour," she wrote.

Humour is not in abundance, it seems, in Luzerne County, northern Pennsylvania. In January 2007 Transue was charged with harassment. She was called before the juvenile court in Wilkes-Barre, an old coal town about 20 miles from her home.

Less than a minute into the hearing the gavel came down. "Adjudicated delinquent!" the judge proclaimed, and sentenced her to three months in a juvenile detention centre. Hillary, who hadn't even presented her side of the story, was handcuffed and led away. But her mother, Laurene, protested to the local law centre, setting in train a process that would uncover one of the most egregious violations of children's rights in US legal history.

Last month the judge involved, Mark Ciavarella, and the presiding judge of the juvenile court, Michael Conahan, pleaded guilty to having accepted $2.6m (£1.8m) from the co-owner and builder of a private detention centre where children aged from 10 to 17 were locked up.

The cases of up to 2,000 children put into custody by Ciavarella over the past seven years - including that of Transue - are now being reviewed in a billowing scandal dubbed "kids for cash". The alleged racket has raised questions about the cosy ties between the courts and private contractors, and about the harsh treatment meted out to adolescents.

Alerted by Laurene Transue, the Juvenile Law Centre in Wilkes-Barre began to uncover scores of cases in which teenagers had been summarily sent to custody by Ciavarella, dating as far back as 1999. One child was detained for stealing a $4 jar of nutmeg, another for throwing a sandal at her mother, a third aged 14 was held for six months for slapping a friend at school.

Half of all the children who came before Ciavarella had no legal representation, despite it being a right under state law. The Juvenile Law Centre has issued a class action against the two judges and other implicated parties in which it seeks compensation for more than 80 children who it claims were victims of injustice.

The prosecution charge sheet alleges that from about June 2000 to January 2007 Ciavarella entered into an "understanding" with Conahan to concoct a scheme to enrich themselves. The two judges conspired to strip the local state detention centre of funding, diverting the money to a private company called PA Child Care which it helped to build a new facility in the area.

In January 2002, prosecutors allege, Conahan signed a "placement guarantee agreement" with the firm to send teenagers into their custody. Enough children would be detained to ensure the firm received more than $1m a year in public money. In late 2004 a long-term deal was secured with PACC worth about $58m.

In return, the prosecutors allege, the judges received at least $2.6m in kickbacks. They bought a condominium in Florida with the proceeds. PACC's then owner, Bob Powell, who has not been charged, used to moor his yacht at a nearby marina. He called the boat "Reel Justice".

For a man who has agreed to serve more than seven years in jail as part of a plea bargain, Ciavarella comes across as remarkably unflustered. He invited the Guardian into his Wilkes-Barre home where he remains free on bail pending sentencing.

Though he pleaded guilty to conflict of interest and evasion of taxes, he insists that he took the money in all innocence, assuming it to be a legitimate "finder's fee" from the private company for help in building the detention centre. He denies sending children to custody in return for kickbacks. "Cash for kids? It never happened. People have jumped to conclusions - I didn't do any of these things."

He says that he regarded his court as a place of treatment for troubled adolescents, not of punishment. "I wanted these children to avoid becoming statistics in an adult world. That's all it was, trying to help these kids straighten out their lives."

As evidence, Ciavarella claims the percentage of children he sentenced to custodial placements remained steady from 1996, when he was appointed to the court, until he stood down from it in 2008. Yet the facts suggest otherwise.

For the first two years of his term his rate of custodial sentencing was static at 4.5% of cases. In 1999 - shortly before he allegedly began the racket with Conahan, according to prosecutors - it suddenly shot up to 13.7%. By 2004 it had risen to up to 26% of all teenagers entering his court.

Ciavarella hopes that with good behaviour he may spend only six years in jail.

Hillary Transue, meanwhile, is now 17 and in high school. She spent a month in detention for the parody. For many months afterwards she was ostracised by friends and neighbours, labelled a delinquent.

"It's nice to see him on the other side of the bench," she says of Ciavarella. "I'm sure he understands now how it feels."

from the Guardian UK

Mafia Judges

Disgraced Judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella were Mafia Judges, associates of and serving mobster William “Big Billy” D’Elia head of the New York Bufalino crime family!

This is the explosive and dare I say not unexpected charge in today's Scranton Times.

A witness will testify before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that Ciavareela and Conahan conspired with disgraced Court Commissioner Ray Sharkey to "legally rub out" The Scranton Times, no doubt due to that newspapers reporting on "mob influence"!

Judge Conahan and Ciavarella have already been exposed selling children to private jails with Mob ties.

So my question when will the Child trafficking charges be leveled?

What about Child Prostitution and Underage video?

Why was Bryan Kocis not only tolerated but protected in Luzerne County?
Exactly who made the payments to Judge Conahan in 2002 allowing Bryan Kocis to have rape,child pornagraphy and child molestation charges reduced to a simple plea of "Corruption of a Minor" with no prison time,no sex offender status.

Despite VIDEO PROOF of the Rape and Sexual Abuse of the then 15 year old boy!

In January 2002 Bryan Kocis while he was under legal threat, facing YEARS in Prison signed an EXCLUSIVE distribution deal with suspected Mafioso Motti Green owner of Pacific Sun. His company controlled retail distribution of Cobra Video DVD's until Bryan Kocis death in January 2007. Green was also a neighbor of Kocis in the Back Mountain area.

The Russian and NYC "Italian" mafia have been fighting for control of sexual trafficking of minors and Pornography. Indeed many of the Gay Bars,Nightclubs and Video stores in NYC are mob owned or controlled. Bryan Kocis and Robert Wagner were frequently seen at Detention Thursdays at the old classic Stonewall Bar. Mob owned and controlled. Detention was the place underage males could be noticed and "picked up".

Young Men that is what Bryan Kocis needed and found at Detention Thursdays. He could also supply his Cobra Boy models to reward "his friends" on trips to New York City.

Dallas Township, Luzerne County Pennsylvania where Bryan Kocis operated a Child Pornography for 6 years! Guaranteed legal immunity by crooked Mob Judges!

I made this charge in 2006.

Vindication is sweet and more to come, stay tuned doubters.

You haven seen anything yet!

Suit says witness will tie mobster D'Elia to courthouse corruption

A witness will testify that one or both of the disgraced judges, Michael Conahan, top left, and Mark Ciavarella, top right, have 'direct connections' to jailed mobster William D’Elia, bottom left, according to a petition to be filed today in the state Supreme Court.

By Dave Janoski
STAFF WRITER

Published: Thursday, February 19, 2009
Updated: Thursday, February 19, 2009 5:49 PM EST

A witness will testify that one or both of the disgraced Luzerne County judges who’ve pleaded guilty to accepting millions in kickbacks have “direct connections” to jailed mobster William “Big Billy” D’Elia, according to a petition to be filed today in the state Supreme Court by lawyers for the owners of The Citizens’ Voice.

The petition asks the court to vacate a $3.5 million defamation verdict issued by suspended Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. in June 2006 against The Scranton Times L.P., a related company called The Times Partners and former Citizens’ Voice reporter Edward Lewis .

Following a non-jury trial, Ciavarella ruled in favor of West Pittston businessman Thomas A. Joseph, who claimed he was defamed in a series of newspaper stories in 2001 following federal raids at Joseph’s business and homes owned by Joseph, D’Elia and others.

In its petition, Scranton Times L.P. alleges that then-President Judge Michael T. Conahan and his first cousin, Court Administrator William T. Sharkey Sr. “steered” the case into Ciavarella’s courtroom, ignoring the usual practice in which cases were assigned on a rotating basis. Ciavarella issued one-sided rulings and ignored evidence that Joseph and D’Elia were close associates who were suspected of money laundering, the petition says.

D’Elia was arrested on money laundering charges in May 2006, a month before the trial. Joseph was never charged.

In his opinion, Ciavarella wrote “there was no credible evidence presented at trial linking the two men beyond being social acquaintances.”

In the past week, Conahan and Ciavarella have pleaded guilty to accepting $2.6 million in kickbacks from a juvenile detention owner and contractor and Sharkey has pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $70,000 from the county.

“The unusual handling of judicial assignments in Joseph v. Scranton Times, the scope and subject of newspaper articles in question, and a cascade of recent revelations regarding corruption in the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas strongly suggest the $3.5 million non-jury verdict was rigged …” the petition says.

“Petitioners have identified a potential witness who, on reliable information and to Petitioners’ belief, would testify concerning direct connections between D’Elia and Judge Conahan and/or Judge Ciavarella.”

The petition asks the court to allow Scranton Times L.P. to gather evidence that it believes will reveal additional evidence of ties between D’Elia and one or both of the judges.

Kevin C. Abbott, an attorney for Scranton Times L.P., declined comment on the petition or the identity of the unnamed witness.

“We’re going to let it speak for itself,” he said.

Joseph and his attorneys did not immediately return phone messages. Conahan, Ciavarella and Sharkey could not be reached for comment.

Ciavarella’ attorney, Albert Flora Jr., said he hadn’t seen the petition and could not comment. Conahan’s attorney, Philip Gelso, and Sharkey’s attorney, Bruce Miller, did not immediately return phone messages.

D’Elia’s attorney, James Swetz, did not immediately return a phone message.

D’Elia, 62, the longtime reputed head of the Bufalino crime family is serving nine years in federal prison for money laundering and witness tampering.

Scranton Times L.P.’s petition argues that Ciavarella ignored evidence in federal search warrant affidavits presented during the trial that stated D’Elia and Joseph were “involved in and/or have knowledge of various federal criminal violations.”

The affidavits quoted confidential sources who alleged Joseph and D’Elia were involved in money laundering.

The petition also argues that Sharkey and Conahan worked together to ensure the pre-trial hearings and the actual trial would be assigned to Ciavarella even though Ciavarella and Conahan had assured Scranton Times L.P. that the selection of a trial judge would be made at random by the Court Administrator’s Office.

The petition cited a record recently obtained from the Court Administrator’s Office that notes the case was assigned by WTS, which are Sharkey’s initials, at the direction of MTC, which are Conahan’s.

Conahan refused a request from Scranton Times L.P. to have a judge from another county hear the case.

Scranton Times L.P. unsuccessfully appealed the Ciavarella’s verdict in state Superior Court, which upheld the verdict in September.

The petition to be filed today cites numerous aspects of the corruption investigation that led to charges against Conahan, Ciavarella and Sharkey including:

• A statement from attorneys for Robert J. Powell, a Butler Township attorney whose company allegedly paid some of the kickbacks to the two judges, that claimed Conahan and Ciavarella had extorted payments from him because he was “particularly vulnerable to the pressures that these Judges could bring to bear on him and his clients.”
• A review of the system for appointing neutral arbitrators in certain insurance cases in Luzerne County Court ordered by President Judge Chester B. Muroski in reaction to media reports of rumors of case-fixing and the possible manipulation of that process by Conahan and Ciavarella.
• A column in the legal journal The Legal Intelligencer citing rumors that “the investigation of the judges was the result of William D’Elia talking.”

D’Elia has been in federal custody since October 2006. In July 2007, he appeared before a Dauphin County grand jury that later recommended perjury charges against Dunmore landfill magnate Louis A. DeNaples. DeNaples is accused of hiding his ties to D’Elia and other crime figures when seeking a state casino license.

Joseph appeared before the same grand jury in August 2007.

Federal prosecutors say D’Elia aided the Dauphin County case against DeNaples and he could win a reduced sentence for continued cooperation. The perjury case against DeNaples has been stalled by his appeals in state Supreme Court.

Conahan and DeNaples served together on the board of First National Community Bank in Dunmore, where DeNaples was chairman until federal bank regulators suspended him in reaction to the perjury charges in January 2008.

Conahan resigned from the board last month after the charges against him were announced.

In the past two weeks the bank has filed legal action to collect $4.15 million from defaulted loans guaranteed by Conahan, Ciavarella, bank board member Michael G. Cestone, Powell and his law partner, Luzerne County Prothonotary Jill A. Moran.

The loans were taken by W-Cat Inc., the company behind a failed townhouse development in Wright Township.

Conahan,Ciavarella and the Drug Dealer

Lets take a trip way back to 1990 and Judge Michael Conahans first brush with Political and criminal corruption.

Conahan was described by the federal prosecutor in the Ronald Belletiere Drug trafficking trial in 1991 as an “unindicted co-conspirator.”

Justice is the case of Conahan has been a long time coming!



91 Case looms large casting shadows...

Former Hazleton resident Ronald Belletiere was at the center of a trial 18 years ago.

By Jerry Lynott jlynott@timesleader.com
Business Writer

SCRANTON – When his name came up in a federal trial 18 years ago during his tenure as a district justice in Hazleton, Michael Conahan distanced himself as far as he possibly could from an admitted drug trafficker.

Last week, Conahan, a retired Luzerne County judge, appeared in court and pleaded guilty to unrelated charges before the same judge who heard the accusations in 1991.

Senior U.S. Judge Edwin Kosik accepted Conahan’s plea and that of his fellow county jurist Mark Ciavarella to tax evasion and participating in a scheme to defraud the public of their honest services by accepting $2.6 million in kickbacks involving two juvenile detention centers.

The two disgraced judges will appear before Kosik at a later date for sentencing.

Though nearly two decades separate the cases, common connections of people, place and profession link the figures in this ongoing and growing investigation of corruption in Luzerne County Court.

Among them are:

Ronald Belletiere – a former Hazleton resident and convicted drug dealer who served nearly four years in prison.

A witness at Belletiere’s trial before Judge Kosik in 1991 said Conahan advised the witness his brother’s name was being mentioned by law enforcement at Hazleton City Hall regarding drug activity. The witness, Neal DeAngelo of Hazleton, said Belletiere later called him “at the direction of Mike Conahan … to see if we can do some business.”

Belletiere also was listed as a permanent guest on the list of people who visited the Jupiter, Fla. condominium managed by Conahan’s wife,Barbara.

In 2004, Belletiere opened a used car dealership in Florida with the judge’s wife.

Judge Mark Ciavarella – (left front in photo) defendant in the current case before Judge Kosik. Ciavarella’s wife Cindy is listed as a partner with Barbara Conahan in the Pinnacle Group of Jupiter, LLC which owns a condominium at the Jupiter Yacht Club. The condominium has been for sale since July 2008. They purchased the condo in 2004 for $785,000. The asking price is $995,000.

Judge Michael Conahan – (top right in photo) defendant in the case before Judge Kosik.

Conahan was described by the federal prosecutor in the Belletiere trial as an “unindicted co-conspirator.”

The prosecutor, Malachy Mannion, now a U.S, Magistrate Judge in Wilkes-Barre, summed up the testimony of witness Neal DeAngelo for Judge Kosik during a sidebar conversation not made available to the jury.

Mannion said, “… they were looking for a drug source and Conahan began giving him information that his brother (Paul DeAngelo) was in trouble with the law enforcement authorities and said … ‘I’ll get you somebody from Florida.’ And Ronnie Belletiere called and they met as a result of Conahan’s involvement …”

Conahan denounced the testimony as bogus and said the statements tying him to the Empire drug ring were made by “common criminals trying to help themselves at my expense.”

In the latest charges, federal authorities said Conahan and Ciavarella laundered some of the money they received in the kickback scheme as expenses for the Jupiter, Fla. condo where not only Belletiere stayed, but also attorney Robert Powell, another permanent guest. Powell docked his $1.5 million yacht, the “Reel Justice” in the marina outside the condo. Powell, identified as “Participant 1” by federal authorities, has been implicated in the kickback scheme involving the PA Child Care LLC juvenile detention center he co-owned, but has not been charged.

Neal DeAngelo – witness at Belletiere’s trial and co-founder with his brother Paul of DBI Services, 100 North Conahan Drive, Hazleton.

DeAngelo testified he flew back from Miami in 1987 carrying in his luggage cocaine he bought in Miami. His brother Paul and Neil Forte accompanied him on the trip. Neal DeAngelo was not charged. Forte pleaded guilty in 1989 to operating a criminal enterprise and tax evasion and received a 10-year prison sentence.

Paul DeAngelo - co-founder of DBI Services with his brother Neal.

Paul DeAngelo was sentenced by Judge Kosik to 18 months in prison for his guilty plea to aiding with the distribution of a kilogram of cocaine in 1987. The prosecution sought a departure downward from the mandatory minimum of five years in prison for DeAngelo’s cooperation. He wore a wire in an effort to obtain statements from a “public official” in Hazleton. He and Belletiere also met with the state Judicial Conduct Board to provide information about the “public official” whom prosecutors have never publicly identified.

Senior U.S. Judge Edwin Kosik – will sentence judges Ciavarella and Conahan for their roles in an ongoing public corruption probe in Luzerne County.

Kosik presided over the Belletiere trial in 1991 in which Conahan’s name came up. The federal judge also sentenced Paul DeAngelo for his role in the Empire drug ring.

Attorney Robert Powell – references in criminal complaint against judges Ciavarella and Conahan point to the attorney as “Participant 1” in the kickback scheme.

However, attorneys for Powell portray him as a victim of the demands for payment by the judges.

Powell had been co-owner of the juvenile detention facilities operated by PA Child Care LLC. But his connections to the judges run deeper. He visited the condo managed by the judges’ wives in Florida and docked his boat in the marina there as well.

He also had a hand in W-Cat Inc., the company behind the development of The Sanctuary townhouse project in Wright Township. He later transferred his interest to his law partner and Luzerne County Prothonotary Jill Moran. The judges and their wives guaranteed $4.5 million in financing for the development, but First National Community Bank of Dunmore obtained a judgment against them on Wednesday for W-Cat’s default on the loans.

Conahan had been a director at the bank along with Louis A. DeNaples. But DeNaples, owner of the Mount Airy Casino Resort in the Poconos, stepped down as a bank chairman after a grand jury indicted him on charges he allegedly lied to state gambling officials about his ties to organized crime members. Conahan resigned as director after federal authorities announced charges against him last month.

Attorney Richard Sprague – counsel for attorney Robert Powell and Louis A. DeNaples.

Sprague, of Philadelphia, said Powell “made a mistake in giving in to the judges’ demands and for not immediately reporting them to authorities.” Powell eventually did notify authorities and cooperated with them to provide “integral” assistance to the prosecution of the judges, Sprague said.

In addition to representing DeNaples in his pending perjury case, Sprague defended The Times Leader in 1991 on charges it published contents of an illegally tape recorded telephone conversation. The charges were later dismissed.

A few years earlier, Sprague was co-counsel in the team that represented former Luzerne County Judge Arthur Dalessandro. Midway through his 1989 trial, Dalessandro pleaded guilty to attempted tax evasion and was later sentenced to one year in federal prison.

More recently, in December, Sprague sat on the Court of Judicial Discipline that heard testimony in the misconduct complaint filed against Luzerne County Judge Ann Lokuta and ordered her removed from the bench.

Lokuta was in the courtroom Thursday when Ciavarella and Conahan entered their guilty pleas. Ciavarella embraced her at the end of the proceeding.

Case Fixing in Luzerne County PA?

Rumors about Luzerne County Justice have been rampant in the legal community for years, the Federal probe is entering its 4th year and with two Judges and a Court Commissioner exposed, speculation now turns to further charges of corruption ensnaring Judges,lawyers and County Commissioners.

It seems Justice in Luzerne county could indeed be purchased. Something I have been alleging for years!

Indeed I specifically charged Cobra Video owner Bryan Kocis purchased Justice in the courtroom of Judge Michael T Conahan in 2002. A charge which I made on the blogs in February 2007 and which resulted in the only direct(anonymous) threat made against me.

Case Fixing is the ultimate betrayal of the public trust!
Suffice to say the ramifications for Eastern Pennsylvania will last years and cost this county millions of dollars in judgments, fines and the complete and irrevocable loss of the public trust!

DeWayne H







Rumors Abound That Alleged Case-Fixing Is Target of Pa. Probe

The Legal Intelligencer

Leo Strupczewski and Peter Hall

February 9, 2009

For a long time, auto insurance defense attorneys have considered it the cost of doing business in Luzerne County -- the difficulty of finding an agreeable neutral arbitrator, the large settlements, the funny feeling that something was off.

But, as the saying goes, what you know and what you can prove are two different things.

In the wake of U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania Martin C. Carlson's announcement last month of fraud charges against former President Judge Mark A. Ciavarella and Senior Judge Michael T. Conahan and charges of embezzlement against a third court official last week, buzz that the U.S. Attorney's Office is targeting lawyers has reached a fever pitch. There are rampant rumors that federal authorities are investigating alleged case fixing.

Carlson, in an interview Tuesday, would not discuss aspects of his investigation beyond the charges already filed, but did say that it is ongoing.

Although law enforcement has not made allegations of case fixing, sources have said in numerous interviews with The Legal Intelligencer that an alleged quid pro quo scheme for some plaintiffs attorneys was established in uninsured motorist/underinsured motorist arbitration cases in Luzerne County long ago.

"That's been the rumor and innuendo for years here," said Lesa Gelb, a Kingston, Pa., plaintiffs attorney.

"There's nothing inherently wrong with going to the court for a neutral [arbitrator]," she continued. "The question is if it's stacked. The rumor in Luzerne County -- and it is a rumor -- is that the decks were stacked."

James K. Thomas, the managing partner of Thomas Thomas & Hafer's office in Harrisburg, said he sees Luzerne County as a "very difficult place to be a defense lawyer."

"You always wound up with people we considered to be very pro-plaintiff," Thomas said. "You wound up with what we considered to be outrageous awards."

"Frankly we recommended to a number of our clients that they move to get the arbitration provisions out of their policies because of what we perceived to be rampant abuses in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area," Thomas said.

Thomas C. Raup, a retired Lycoming County Common Pleas judge, said he was shocked when he began working as an arbitrator in 1998 by the stories he heard from insurance defense lawyers about "ridiculous settlement offers" and the appointment of plaintiffs lawyers as neutral arbitrators.

"I have refused to sit there," Raup said. "But I did sit on one case as a defense arbitrator to see if I could see it from the inside."

In that case, Raup said, the plaintiff's counsel opened with a statement that the case was worth $2.5 million. Raup said he stated why he had agreed to serve as the defense arbitrator and the case eventually settled for far less than the seven figures the plaintiff initially sought.

"I thought it would be interesting and in the interest of the profession to do that," said Raup. "I have never been asked to be a neutral over there."

However, another plaintiffs attorney said there was nothing improper about the system.

Talk of case assignments surfaced during the trial of former Luzerne County Judge Ann H. Lokuta before the state Court of Judicial Discipline, more than a year ago. Lokuta is now challenging the court's finding that she violated the Code of Judicial Conduct and the state constitution and its decision to remove her from the bench.

Lokuta testified that she has spoken to the U.S. Attorney's Office and FBI agents about instances in which three cases assigned to her were suddenly reassigned to Ciavarella or Conahan, according to the transcripts. Francis J. Puskas, deputy chief counsel for the Judicial Conduct Board, and the man who prosecuted the case against Lokuta, told The Legal Intelligencer recently that Lokuta testified during her trial that she spoke to the FBI about docketing in Luzerne and identified three cases that had been reassigned from her.

A PROFOUND EFFECT

James C. Haggerty, of the Philadelphia defense firm Swartz Campbell, said arbitration practices in Luzerne County have had a profound effect on Pennsylvania law.

"[Insurance Federation of Pennsylvania v. Commonwealth, Department of Insurance (Koken),] was pursued because of the outrageous UM/UIM awards coming out of Luzerne County," said Haggerty, who is chairman of the Pennsylvania Defense Institute's auto insurance committee.

In that 2005 state Supreme Court decision, the Insurance Federation won a holding that automobile insurance carriers are not required to include a mandatory arbitration clause in auto insurance policies for the resolution of UM/UIM cases. Defense and plaintiffs lawyers, alike, agree that Koken has altered the landscape of auto insurance arbitration.

"It has changed," said an attorney with a Philadelphia defense firm who does defense work in Luzerne. "Koken had a chilling effect. These guys know now that they cannot control the process. A lot of these cases are still going to arbitration, but this now allows us to get a fair arbitration panel."

NO NOTICE

A Luzerne County lawyer who has handled UM/UIM arbitration cases there said plaintiffs attorneys involved in the alleged scheme rarely approached defense counsel to compromise on a neutral arbitrator -- a practice common in many other counties. Instead, defense counsel would often receive a phone call informing him or her that the plaintiffs attorney had already filed a petition for a neutral arbitrator.

And that is where connections allegedly came into play.

The judge handling the petition was left to pick a name, the lawyer said, because there was no list from which UM/UIM arbitrators were pulled.

It was an arrangement that allowed for a system in which plaintiffs attorneys could receive an arbitrator who would lean their way and raise the value of the case, the source alleged. In exchange, the plaintiff's attorney allegedly returned the favor.

"It's the same players getting the same people appointed," the lawyer said.

Conrad Falvello, a Sugarloaf, Pa., plaintiffs attorney, said he doesn't believe there was ever a practice of rigging UM/UIM arbitration. He also said he has seen no indication that members of the plaintiffs bar are under investigation.

However, Falvello said there were idiosyncrasies in Luzerne County's civil court procedures that did leave defense lawyers out of the loop when it came time to appoint a neutral arbitrator.

Falvello said in most arbitration cases, he was able to agree with defense counsel on a neutral arbitrator. When he failed to reach an agreement, he would tell his opposing counsel that he planned to present a petition in motions court and tell them the date.

"Some guys would just pop up with a petition to appoint a neutral without giving defense notice," Falvello said. "I don't doubt that was done by some guys. But I also don't know of any rule that required notice."

Falvello said there were also inconsistencies between members of the bench.

"It depended on the judges. Some would appoint. Some would say, 'Notify defense counsel and come back,'" Falvello said. "At that time, I don't think there was a specific local rule that addressed that procedure. So, in that sense, I don't know that any rules were violated."

One insurance defense lawyer who works in-house for a major insurance carrier in Luzerne County said the effort to control the appointment of neutral arbitrators was more regimented. He claimed to recall that in about 2003 an order was printed in the Luzerne County Register, a weekly publication of the Luzerne County Law and Library Association, that directed all petitions to appoint neutral arbitrators to be brought before Conahan, who was then president judge. Later, a similar order was allegedly published directing such petitions to Ciavarella, who was elected president judge in 2006.

"If I knew what I know now, I should have saved those and bronzed them," the attorney said.

A search of the Luzerne County Court rules failed to turn up such an order. The county law librarian said such orders are not kept beyond a year. A call to the prothonotary's office was not returned before press time.

A LOOK AT THE DOCKET

Though court records seem to back up allegations that plaintiffs lawyers took turns serving as neutral arbitrators in each other's cases, the Luzerne County lawyer said only a fraction of the arbitration conducted in the county would have been linked to the names of insurance companies.

Some petitions for a neutral arbitrator are filed with the third party as the defendant and others don't get docketed at all, the lawyer said.

Most often, though, the threat of a petition is enough to convince a defense attorney to agree to an arbitrator without involving judges.

The lawyer said it can be better that way.

"[You think to yourself,] 'I know I'm not going to do very well with the court,' so you agree to somebody who's not going to screw me completely," the lawyer said. "You're not going in there thinking you're getting somebody who's a decent arbitrator."

According to court records examined by The Legal Intelligencer involving a selected group of 10 major auto insurance companies, plaintiffs lawyers filed petitions to appoint neutral arbitrators on 43 occasions between 1995 and 2008.

In 29 of those cases, the same six law firms represented the plaintiffs. In 13 of the 43 cases, attorneys from the same six firms, all of which market themselves as plaintiffs firms, were also appointed as neutral arbitrators. Twice, there were no records for plaintiffs attorneys. The names of the appointed arbitrators were not recorded in seven cases.

In 22 of the 43 cases, the judge was either Conahan or Ciavarella. There was no record of a judge in two of those cases.

The outcome of arbitration in which the lawyers named participated is not a public record. There is no evidence to suggest that the result of arbitration in the cases examined was improper. Nor is there anything to suggest plaintiffs law firms did anything improper to be appointed neutral arbitrators. Ciavarella and Conahan have not been charged with anything related to allegations of case fixing UM/UIM cases.

In one of the cases reassigned from Lokuta to Ciavarella, Pockevich v. Lindstrom, a jury returned a $352,500 verdict that included no economic damages. The verdict included $250,000 for past and future emotional distress, $75,000 for loss of life's pleasures and $27,500 for pain and suffering. The verdict came after Ciavarella granted a plaintiff's motion to preclude a defense psychiatric expert from testifying.

The lawyer with the Philadelphia defense firm said he often perceived the appointment of neutral arbitrators to be predetermined, even when he had a chance to weigh in.

"I've submitted lists of 25 to 30 names of extraordinarily qualified judges and lawyers as arbitrators," he said. "They'd all be rejected."

The in-house lawyer said he has also grown accustomed to reasonable suggestions being rejected.

"I've recommended [former] Supreme Court Justice [Russell M.] Nigro and they've rejected him," he said. "I've recommended these guys who are fairer than the day is long and they've rejected them."

"It's beyond coincidence that these guys constantly got each other as neutrals," the lawyer said.

If there have been improprieties in the conduct of Luzerne County insurance arbitration, it would be very difficult to prove, the lawyer with the Philadelphia firm said.

He said plaintiffs lawyers used inflated demands to deflect questions about the fairness of neutral arbitrators.

"They put these huge, ungodly numbers on the board, but that's their cover. When a smaller number comes back, no one gives it a second look," he said. "Even if the neutral arbitrator comes back with half that ungodly number, everyone says, 'Oh, that wasn't bad. He only gave her half the economic loss.'"

But in a system that functions on honesty and judgment of lawyers sworn to seek justice, perceptions carry little weight, the lawyer said.

"There's no smoking gun, and until you get your smoking gun you're not going to get anything," he said.

Further reading Justice for Sale

UPDATE:
The United States District Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania has posted an information and clearing house WebSite for judicial Corruption in Luzeren County.

Anyone with reports of maleficence and criminal behavior is encouraged to contact the FBI.

LUZERNE COUNTY CORRUPTION PROSECUTIONS

If you believe that you were a victim of an offense being prosecuted as part of the Luzerne County corruption prosecutions, and if you want to learn more about your rights as a victim, please contact us in writing at the following address: United States Attorney’s Office, Middle District of Pennsylvania, Attention: Laurie Reiley, P.O. Box 1023, Harrisburg, PA 17108. Please include details that explain why you feel you are a victim in this case.

If you believe that you have information relating to criminal wrongdoing please contact FBI Special Richard Southerton at 570-344-2404... or the IRS at 570-969-5300..