Pocono News Section

Warden Suspended in Luzerne County

Warden Suspended in Luzerne County - Monday, April 28, 2008 at 5:25PM EST

Reported by: Mike Trim
Monday, Apr 28, 2008 @ 05:25pm EST
WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY- A big shakeup at the Luzerne County jail on Monday. The warden will be suspended and another supervisor put on probation. It's all because former county manager Sam Guesto broke the rules, and skipped the bidding process for kitchen purchases.

Luzerne County Correctional facility Warden Gene Fischi didn't say much after he found out he'll be suspended We asked Fischi, "Can you comment on your suspension? He said, “No”.

We asked “Did you personally know about the no-bid contracts?” He said, “No I didn't."

It's one week without pay and one year probation for Fischi. Kitchen Supervisor Jack Rentko was also put on one year probation.

A 2006 county solicitor report shows they were ordered to skip the bidding process for county jail kitchen purchases. Former County Manager Sam Guesto apparently told them to do it, but the commissioners are holding Rentko and Fischi responsible.

Luzerne County Commissioner Greg Skrepenak says, "It doesn't roll downhill in this case, it rolls uphill. And that's when you're in the position of the public and a position of authority; you're going to have to be the one to take on that responsibility."

Now commissioners are trying to find out how much money was spent on the no-bid contracts. All recent county jail purchases will be audited. State law requires at least 3 vendors bid on kitchen purchases.

The solicitors report shows Guesto awarded contracts to companies he knew. Commissioners say the warden and Rentko should have thrown up red flags immediately. County Commissioner Maryanne Petrilla says, "They should have taken this to the board members and say, 'hey well this is going on, is this something you agree with?' At the same time he was following a directive from someone who is his superior. With that we felt that the punishment handed down was appropriate."

As for Guesto, commissioners say they'll wait for the audit's result to take action. Guesto still holds a county job. Right now he's the Administrator of the county judiciary. There's an investigation into whether or not Guesto's contract work was criminal.

District Attorney Jackie Musto Carroll says she has asked an outside agency to take a look, and build a report.