Pocono News Section

Conahan & Ciavarella Indicted on 48 Counts

Conahan & Ciavarella Indicted on 48 Counts - Wednesday, September 9, 2009 at 6:15PM EST

Reported by: Eyewitness News
Wednesday, Sep 9, 2009 @ 06:15pm EST
HARRISBURG -- Former Luzerne County judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella are facing new federal charges of racketeering, fraud, money laundering, extortion, bribery and federal tax violations.

A federal grand jury in Harrisburg indicted the two with a total of 48 counts just before 5:00 P. M. Wednesday.

The ex-judges had plead guilty in February to fraud and tax evasion charges for allegedly taking some $2.6 million in kickbacks in a "kids for cash" scheme.

But that guilty plea was rejected by federal Judge Edwin Kosik. He ruled that the penalty of just over 7 years in jail was not long enough and that the former judges did not accept responsibility for their actions.

The former judges then withdrew their guilty pleas. Now the FBI and IRS investigation has lead to these new charges.

As a result they could head to trial and if convicted face 25 to 30 years in prison.