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POWER! fundraiser aids Sunday’s Breathe Deep NEPA lung cancer run at Kirby Park

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WBS Penguins re-sign 2 forwards; Wilkes men’s hockey coach moving on

<p>The federal prosecutor in charge of the Middle District of Pennsylvania has rejected claims of prosecutorial misconduct in a new book about how the U.S. Attorney&#8217;s Office handled the criminal case against former Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella.</p><p>The book, &#8220;Presumption of Guilt: How The Kids For Cash Scandal Trampled Justice,&#8221; was recently released by Lorna Graham, a former federal prosecutor who retired in 2014.</p><p>&#8220;I am aware of the allegations made by former AUSA Graham in her self-published book,&#8221; U.S. Attorney David J. Freed wrote in a statement released Thursday.</p><p>&#8220;While I was not the United States Attorney at the time, I have reviewed the matter thoroughly and I am confident that the attorneys of the United States Attorney&#8217;s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania followed the evidence, complied with the law and DOJ policy, and secured convictions appropriate for that evidence,&#8221; Freed added.</p><p>Graham worked in the U.S. Attorney&#8217;s office in Scranton but was not involved in prosecuting the Ciavarella case. She told the Times Leader this week she has never met the former judge.</p><p>She contends Ciavarella was &#8220;railroaded&#8221; by prosecutors who falsely accused him of taking money to jail kids, and that she was &#8220;shocked&#8221; by what she saw as a lack of evidence to support her former colleagues&#8217; case.</p><p>Federal prosecutors charged Ciavarella and former county Judge Michael Conahan with participating in a $2.8 million kickback scheme that involved the construction of two, for-profit juvenile detention centers and the placement of youths in the facilities in Pittston Township and Butler County.</p><p>A plea deal initially signed by the pair would have seen them serve 87 months behind bars. It was later rejected by federal Judge Edwin Kosik.</p><p>Conahan pleaded guilty to racketeering and was sentenced to 17&#189; years in federal prison. Now 67, he is serving out his time at a facility in Miami, Fla., with a listed release date of Dec. 18, 2026.</p><p>Ciavarella, now 69, took his case to trial and lost. He was convicted in 2011, and is serving out a 28-year sentence, due to expire in 2035, at a facility in Kentucky.</p><p>A federal appeals court earlier this year affirmed a lower court ruling overturning three of the 12 charges Ciavarella was convicted on, for racketeering and money laundering conspiracy, paving the way for a new trial on those counts.</p>
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US Attorney rejects Ciavarella book claims