Ex-Judges Indicted in Kids-for-Cash Scheme

Two former Pennsylvania judges were indicted Wednesday on federal racketeering charges in connection with a scheme to place juvenile offenders in privately owned detention centers.

A federal grand jury in Harrisburg returned a 48-count indictment against former Luzerne County Judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella Jr., who are accused of taking millions of dollars in kickbacks related to the construction of two youth detention facilities.

Conahan and Ciavarella had pleaded guilty in February to honest services fraud and tax evasion in a deal with prosecutors that called for a sentence of 87 months in prison, far below federal guidelines. But the deal was rejected last month by Senior U.S. District Judge Edward M. Kosik, who said the two hadn't fully accepted responsibility for the crimes, and the ex-judges switched their pleas to not guilty.

Wednesday's indictment marked a dramatic escalation in the government's pursuit of the disgraced judges. The charges include racketeering, fraud, money laundering, extortion, bribery and federal tax violations and could bring decades in prison. The indictment also seeks the forfeiture of at least $2.8 million, "which is alleged to be the proceeds of the charged criminal activity," according to a news release issued by the U.S. attorney's office in Harrisburg.

Lawyers for the judges declined to comment Wednesday, saying they hadn't seen the indictment.

Federal prosecutors issued a brief news release at 4:59 p.m. to announce the new charges, but it provided few details and the indictment itself was not yet docketed online. Heidi Havens, a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Dennis C. Pfannenschmidt, refused to provide a copy of the indictment to The Associated Press.

Prosecutors have previously described a scheme in which Conahan, Luzerne County's former president judge, shut down the county-owned juvenile detention center in 2002 and signed an agreement with PA Child Care LLC to send youth offenders to its new facility outside Wilkes-Barre.

Ciavarella, who presided over juvenile court, sent youths to the detention center and to a sister facility in western Pennsylvania while he was taking payments, prosecutors have said.

The scandal led the state Supreme Court to overturn hundreds of juvenile convictions on grounds that Ciavarella violated the constitutional rights of youths who appeared in his courtroom without lawyers for hearings that last just a few minutes. More convictions are under review.

Former PA Child Care owner Robert Powell, a lawyer, pleaded guilty July 1 to paying kickbacks to the judges. Prominent construction company owner Robert K. Mericle, who built the detention centers, pleaded guilty earlier this month to a charge of withholding information on a crime.