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Texas judge rules health care overhaul unconstitutional

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Hanover Area Pre-K students get free dental checkups courtesy of volunteers

<p>SCRANTON &#8212; A computer hacker who&#8217;s about to earn a degree in computer science avoided prison Friday when a federal judge, impressed with how he turned around his life, placed him on probation for three years.</p><p>The outpouring of support in the forms of testimony and letters for Justin Bodnar of Wilkes-Barre persuaded U.S. District Judge James Munley to go lower than the recommended sentence.</p><p>&#8221;I&#8217;m overcome with how well you did,&#8221; Munley told Bodnar as he stood before the judge in a U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania courtroom.</p><p>Bodnar, 29, faced up to five years in prison for his guilty plea in August to hacking the personal emails of former Wilkes-Barre Mayor Tom Leighton during a six-month period in 2013. A federal grand jury indicted Bodnar in December 2016 and he has been free since then.</p><p>The presentence report prepared in this case took into consideration Bodnar&#8217;s acceptance of responsibility among other things and recommended a guideline range of four months to 10 months in prison, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert O&#8217;Hara.</p><p>As a minor Bodnar spent seven years in the juvenile justice system for nonviolent offenses and was featured in the &#8220;Kids for Cash&#8221; film. Released in 2014, it told the story of juveniles caught up in the corrupt scheme of former Luzerne County judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan and their involvement in the construction of for-profit juvenile detention centers and the placement of youths in them. Ciavarella and Conahan have been serving lengthy federal prison sentences for their crimes.</p><p>Reportedly Bodnar learned his hacking skills while detained as a juvenile. The hacking came at a low point in Bodnar&#8217;s life when he was addicted to drugs, said his attorney Brandon Reish.</p><p>Bodnar also looked down at himself at that time of his life. &#8220;I was a bad person as far as I&#8217;m concerned,&#8221; he told the court.</p><p>When the kids in the film were offered the opportunity to attend Wilkes University some of them, including Bodnar came forward. Even though he was identified as a genius at a young age, his time in the juvenile justice system adversely affected him. It was difficult for him at the college level because he only held a GED certificate and had to take some math courses twice, said Bonnie Culver, the director of the Maslow Family Graduate Creative Writing Program at Wilkes.</p><p>Culver said Bodnar is set to graduate next spring and has &#8220;a very bright future.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;I trust him implicitly,&#8221; Culver said.</p><p>Filmmaker Robert May joined Culver in asking the court for leniency for Bodnar. May said he too has been impressed with Bodnar&#8217;s development. &#8220;He was old in age, but not in maturity&#8221; when they first met during the filming in 2010, May said.</p><p>Based on the transformation that&#8217;s taken place since then, May said, &#8220;I would trust him with my computer,&#8221; and added, &#8220;I would trust him with my money.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Bodnar </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_bodnar02.jpg</photo0><caption0>Bodnar </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>

Leighton email hacker gets probation; judge impressed with turnaround