The ABA Journal has been closely following a Pay for Jail scheme perpetrated by judges and at least one attorney in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. Two county judges pled guilty to accepting $2.6 million in kickbacks for sending teenagers to a juvenile detention facility partially owned by attorney Robert J. Powell.
Powell helped judges Ciavarella and Conahan hide the income they received, and he admitted to paying cash to Conahan. Despite earlier insistence that he was a victim in the judges' scheme, Powell pled guilty this week to two felony charges and forfeited his interest in a jet and a yacht.
The conduct of the two judges casts doubt on their juvenile convictions issued from 2003 to 2008. The Pennsylvania State Supreme Court reversed those of former president judge Ciavarella in a ruling handed down in late March. The court appointed a special master to review the situation. The exact number of reversals is not known. AP estimates convictions at issue in the hundreds, while the Philadelphia Inquirer puts the figure at 1200.
More details can be found at the ABA Journal's website.
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