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Contractor makes quick work razing condemned row homes in Wilkes-Barre

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DNC 2016: Millennial delegates concerned about race and women’s issues, excited about party unity

<p>Sixteen months in federal prisons hasn&#8217;t changed Bob Mellow&#8217;s mind about his style of governing.</p><p>He said so Tuesday and in his new book, &#8220;Used, Abused &amp; Forgotten - Bob Mellow: A Targeted Senator,&#8221; released this week about his rise and fall and re-emergence as a private citizen and convicted felon.</p><p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t believe I did a thing wrong,&#8221; Mellow said during a phone interview to discuss the self-published book.</p><p>&#8220;You can&#8217;t separate politics from government when you&#8217;re an elected person. They&#8217;re one and the same,&#8221; the 73-year-old said.</p><p>Four years ago, the former Democratic state senator pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges, saying he had no choice after relentless pressure by federal investigators looking into the alleged use of state Senate staff for political work on his behalf and the filing of false tax return in 2008.</p><p>&#8220;It wore me down,&#8221; Mellow said. &#8221; I had to get it over with.&#8221;</p><p>The process and the prosecution taught him important life lessons about loyalty, the criminal justice system and himself. He condensed his life, his 40 years in office, the longest of any state legislator, and his time in prison into 70,000 words first written longhand in pencil on loose leaf paper between March and July of last year.</p><p>Unburdening himself was therapeutic, Mellow said and if he doesn&#8217;t make a dime on the book, which lists for $32.95 in hard cover and $13.95 in soft cover on the Internet, it won&#8217;t matter to him.</p><p>&#8220;Nobody has to buy the book,&#8221; he said.</p><p>But should they, they&#8217;ll get to hear from him about his experiences, which are accurately described in the book&#8217;s title.</p><p>&#8220;People that I was so close with, once things went bad, completely abandoned me,&#8221; he said, adding those who stood by him are his true friends. &#8220;No, I don&#8217;t abandon people,&#8221; he said. &#8220;When I&#8217;m your friend, I&#8217;m your friend.</p><p>He said he believes he was targeted by the federal government and beleaguered state Attorney General Kathleen Kane who filed corruption-related charges against him while he was serving his prison sentence. The charges were later dismissed.</p><p>Mellow described federal prison as &#8220;adult day care&#8221; that offers no programs for inmates to learn skills they can use to make a legitimate living upon release.</p><p>&#8220;Once you&#8217;ve been a convicted felon, you receive a death sentence in society, even though you&#8217;re not dead,&#8221; he said. It&#8217;s death &#8220;based on your acceptability,&#8221; he added.</p><p>There&#8217;s no reason for him not to show his face in public and he has nothing to hide, Mellow said.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m certainly not going away. I&#8217;m comfortable in my own skin,&#8221; he said.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Mellow </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/web1_mellow-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Mellow </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jerry Lynott</p><p>jlynott@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Former PA senator Bob Mellow writes book about life as lawmaker and behind bars