Judge michael Conahan

The Cobra Effect On Luzerne County Justice

With all of the different thoughts about who killed Bryan Kocis and speculation that he was killed to keep him from testifying against the judge who changed his charges after the fact it really makes you wonder if Bryan had something on Judge Conahan that helped him avoid jail time. Now early on in this investigation someone suggested that Bryan was killed by a hit man. I will admit that I thought that to be the case. What is really interesting is that the more that is discovered about this case the more I think of it as a possibility. There were always just to many things with this case that did not fit.

I know that it is claimed that Joe and Harlow killed Bryan because he was an impediment to them working with SeanLockhart/Brent Corrigan. But what is interesting is that the more I look at what has transpired in this case more I think that Joe and Harlow could have been framed. mind you I do understand all of the evidence that is being presented against Joe and Harlow. I have seen enough of the evidence to understand the belief of those who think that they did this. But you have to understand that you have only seen the prosecutions side of the case. I really have no clue what the defense will provide as evidence. The one thing good about our justice system is you don’t have to disprove the prosecutions case you just have to introduce doubt.

First of all Joe and Harlow were under investigation in Virginia Beach for a Rico case with regards to their escort business. The search of their house in February was based on the Rico charges and had nothing to do with the murder of Bryan Kocis. The Pennsylvania police went on a ride along on that search because Harlow was a “person of interest”. What is also interesting is that the affidavit for that search warrant is still sealed and the people who have tried to get a look at it have found it is resealed every time it comes up to be viewed by the public. I wonder why that is? Could it be that what was seized in that search was seized illegally?

You also have the recently indicted Judge Michael Conahan who is same judge who was accused of illegal campaign practices by Judge Musto during their heated campaign. Judge Musto alleges that Conahan received $180,000.00 in campaign donations illegally. Conahan said that he loaned it to his campaign by taking a second mortgage on his home but no records existed of any such transaction in county records. Federal agents conducting a probe on the financial dealings of Judge Conahan, and his wife are also examining the county court records as well .

When Judge Conahan was a magisterial district judge he was involved in a cocaine trafficking case. Judge Conahan’s name surfaced during Mr. Belletiere’s 1991 federal trial in the “Empire” drug case involving Hazleton drug trafficking in the 1980s. Federal witness Neal DeAngelo testified Judge Conahan called him in 1986 and said he had heard Mr. DeAngelo’s brother, Paul, had been buying cocaine from a dealer who was under investigation. Judge Conahan offered to put the DeAngelos in contact with a Florida dealer, Mr. DeAngelo testified. Mr. Belletiere, who is a former Hazleton resident, subsequently called Mr. DeAngelo at Judge Conahan’s request.

According to testimony, and the DeAngelo brothers and another man traveled to Miami to buy $26,500 worth of cocaine from Mr. Belletiere. While Judge Conahan was on the prosecution’s list of witnesses for the Belletiere trial he was not called to testify. The federal prosecutor in the case, during a “sidebar” conversation with the judge out of the jury’s earshot, called Judge Conahan an “unindicted co-conspirator” in the case, according to a court transcript.

Four years ago Judge Conahan’s wife, Barbara, formed a Pompano Beach used-car business, according to an official with the company who said Monday that he met with Judge Conahan, the judge’s wife and Mr. Belletiere (the former dealer from Florida) to discuss setting up the business in 2004. Barbara Conahan was president of the used-car business, RAB Auto Sales Inc., according to Florida corporate documents. The former drug dealer, Ronald Belletiere, operated RAB, according to the company’s former secretary/treasurer. Florida documents indicate the company has been inactive since September 2007.

Judge Conahan “retired” shortly before the arrest of Joe and Harlow with 6 years left on his ten-year term. Yet no one wants to believe that this man is capable of setting up a hit on a man who could get him thrown in prison on a mandatory 3rd degree felony where he could serve up to 15 years in prison. Now I have read various sentiments with regards to Conahan and Ciavarella and how could they do what they did and not get busted sooner. Someone in the DA’s office had to know what was going on. Could that person be Judge Peter Lupas the former Luzrene County DA? When you look at all that has transpired with regards to this case the whole conspiracy to frame Joe and Harlow does not really seem so far fetched.

It was claimed that it would be too hard to cover up a hit and to frame two guys for murder. The interesting thing is that there were several times that this case could have come to a horrible end for those accused. There was the early morning search of the home of Joe and Harlow. The police used concussion grenades and the swat team to raid the home. The fact is someone could have easily been killed. There is also the travesty that has been the case so far. With the musical chair game with the attorneys for the accused. The mad rush to trial by the Luzerne County courts. Judge Ciavarella stepping in to deny the accused legal representatation by denying them conflict council.

David Lupas was the DA when Bryan was convicted and he was also the DA when Joe and Harlow were arrested. He became a Judge at the beginning of this year. He is also the judge that was picked by Ciavarella to oversee the juvenile court system. He was also the DA when Joe and Harlow’s house was searched. He was overseeing this case from the start. It kind of makes you wonder what was going on in Luzerne County.

Judge Conahan is/was on the board of First National Community Bank — where billionaire casino owner Louis A. DeNaples was chairman of the board until his recent indictment on perjury charges with regards to a casino and organized crime. He is also in the business of landfill and used auto parts and real estate. DeNaples is one of the principal shareholders in this bank with his brother and his son. Now we have this connection for Conahan. Are you starting to get the picture now?

Then you have Judge Conahan and Ciavarella who were good friends with a Mr. Powell who wanted to build a new juvenile detention center. Powell and his partner built this center and gave the judges kick backs for all of inmates that were sent there. That is another huge travesty in Luzerne County. Mr. Powell then sold his interest in the youth centers to a Greg Zappola who I might add is not the most above board person I have read about. You have the builder and the lawyer and the judge all involved in a nice little scam against the public. And now Ciavarella is saying that he did not defraud the taxpayers. And guess who his attorney is, If you said Al Flora you would be correct.

The same attorney who with Conahan and Lupus got the charges reduced for one Bryan Kocis,
the victim of a murder that is being tried in Lucerne County in the very same court house where these dishonored judges used to preside. Does anyone else see something wrong with this picture? Now I can understand that from the point of view of the court system of Luzerne County they would want to keep this case in house. But in the name of justice I think it should be moved to a Federal Court. Luzerne had too much to loose to let this case get away from their control and now their worst nightmare has been realized.

What is funny is that the FBI was investigating the victim and the court system was also being investigated. Either way Conahan was going down but I guess it is better to go down for embezzlement than for consorting with a known child molester and allowing him to remain free to molest again. If you have to be tainted than just be a crook and not a pervert. But the one problem is that there are too many loose ends floating around out there that could continue to cause problems for his dishonor Judge Conahan.

It makes you wonder why the child detention centers? I wonder if Robert Powell has something to do with Kocis. Why would Conahan review all of the video that was confiscated during Bryan’s trail and then return it all and the equipment except the one video that should have convicted him. Why would he allow him to continue to produce pornography in a state where he took an oath to uphold the law and allow Bryan to continue to break it? Why did the prosecutor not protest this travesty of justice? Was he told that it would help him get on the bench if he ignored it?

It seems that Bryan Kocis was a big thorn in the side of Judge Conahan. He we was too high profile and he was drawing to much attention to Luzerne County. The slap on the hand that he received after raping that 15-year-old boy was drawing focus on the court system. The bogus court case with regards to Sean Lockhart, the civil case in federal court in San Diego, the back door deal with Lee Bergeron, the online fighting with Sean and Grant, Sean’s blog which was telling the world that Bryan was a pervert. The fact that Sean was underage when he filmed for Cobra Video. All of those reasons could have brought this little dirty court system down to its knees.

So Bryan Kocis had to be destroyed to protect the “integrity” of the court system.
There is a nasty taint on anyone who has ever had anything to do with Bryan Kocis. The fact that killing him did not remove it is quite telling. There are still those who defend Bryan and his actions as honorable. It really makes you wonder about those who are condoning his actions. They throw aspersions at Sean and Grant and anyone who defends them by calling them murderers. Bryan Kocis needed Sean Lockhart silenced but alas that did not happen, someone silenced him.

This is Elmysterio and I’m out

BRENT CORRIGAN'S heat
Comments Off more...

Breaking News: Ciavarella, Conahan plead guilty.















Update: Gregory Zappalla now owns Powell’s interest in PA child care.
Breaking News: Ciavarella, Conahan plead guilty to income tax charges; will serve 87 months 1:24 p.m.
Well I have said all along that the Luzerne County court system was corrupt and I guess it was proven today with the guilty pleas of Conahan and Ciavarella. Who knows who else will be charged in this case and what the ramifications are to the cases that these judges have tried. I really is a sad state of affairs when the judicial system of a state or county is corrupt. It reflects badly on all involved in that court system and it brings serious doubt to all decisions rendered by the jurist of said county.

How many cases can be appealed due to this new evidence? Who knows what the truth is since they plead guilty. There will not be a trial and the facts of all of the other crimes might never be known. There have been stories about this case for the last couple of years. There was allot of uproar about the changing of the charges for Bryan Kocis, the murder victim in another high profile case. It seems that there has been talk about the judges who were just charged had motive to kill Bryan Kocis. This is due to it being a 3rd degree felony to impede due process of law and not having Kocis register as a sexual offender under Megan’s law. There is a mandatory prison term with regards to this type of case.

There is also the possibility that there are other people who are going to be charged down the pipe as there are other things that these judges were involved in. Those who profited from the illegal activities that the judges were involved with could also be charged. Luzerne county is now under a serious microscope and there is the possibility that this latest problem could also affect the DA’s office. I guess we will just have to wait and see what happens.

Here is the news story form the Citizens Voice the Times Leader also has reported on this case.

Published: Monday, January 26, 2009 1:36 PM EST
Luzerne County judges Mark A. Ciavarella and Michael Conahan were charged today with two counts of conspiracy to impede the Internal Revenue Service in collecting federal income taxes and a scheme to defraud the citizens of Luzerne County and Pennsylvania of the right to their honest services.Ciavarella and Conahan were charged with concealing the receipt of $2.6 million between January 2003 and April 2007. They have filed a plea agreement, signed by both judges, and pleaded guilty to honest service fraud and income tax conspiracy.The judges stipulated they will resign their judgeship and be disbarred. They will serve 87 months in federal prison and make restitution as stipulated by the court.

There was also the question of misappropriations of funds with regards to the juvenile court system where Judge Conahan’s brother in law as the main psychologist for the evaluations of the people who appeared in front of his bench. There is also the the case of Conahan’s wife who was involved with a former drug dealer with regards to a auto dealership in Florida. With all of this is there any wonder why Luzerne County is up in arms with regards to their court system.

This is Elmysterio and I’m out.

BRENT CORRIGAN'S heat
Comments Off more...

Clerk of Courts seeks to intervene in Ciavarella suit against commissioners


When will this circus ever be over. I wonder if this is the court clerk who will be going to the big house with Conahan and Ciaverella. Would that just be a hoot. He looks like he has something to hide.

Clerk of Courts seeks to intervene in Ciavarella suit against commissioners
By
Terrie Morgan-Besecker [email protected]Law & Order Reporter
WILKES-BARRE – Luzerne County Clerk of Courts Robert Reilly on Friday filed a petition seeking to intervene in the lawsuit filed by President Judge Mark Ciavarella that challenges cuts commissioners made in the court’s 2009 budget.
Reilly
The petition, filed by attorney Peter John Moses, argues that decisions affecting the funding of the court system directly impact the operation of his office. It seeks to grant Reilly the right to take part in various court proceedings related to the lawsuit.
Reilly is upset by the commissioners’ decision not to fund four positions within his office. The loss of the positions has left his office incapable of fully meeting its responsibilities and has “threatened the adequate administration of justice,” the petition states.
The clerk of courts handles the filing of criminal cases and associated duties, including collecting and distributing court costs and restitutions, collecting and returning bail money, certifying and distributing court orders and the scheduling and conduction of hearings and other proceedings, the petition says.
“If the clerk of courts is unable to timely file documentation of criminal cases, alone, for example, trials may not be timely scheduled and criminal defendants could be released and charges dismissed for a lack of a speedy trial,” the petition says.
Ciavarella filed suit against the county, its commissioners and salary board in December. The suit contends personnel cuts the commissioners made to the court’s 2009 budget will impede the administration of justice.
Senior Judge C. Joseph Rehkamp of Perry County, who was specially appointed to preside over the case, issued a preliminary injunction barring commissioners from implementing cuts in court branches. That order did not protect the clerk of courts office, however, because it is funded out of the county’s general fund.
Moses said a hearing will be scheduled at which Rehkamp will hear evidence and rule on whether Reilly’s office can intervene.
Terrie Morgan-Besecker, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 570-829-7179.

I wonder oif this is the same county clerks office that screwed up on the charges for Bryan Kocis. I would think that they might want to keep their mouths shut and not draw attention to the fact that they are incompetant. I was reading some of the comments left at the timesleader with regards to the pending arrests and I can only say that Luzerne County is not kind when it comes to saying how they feel about those Judges.

This is Elmysterio and I’m out

BRENT CORRIGAN'S heat
Comments Off more...

Officials: Conahan ordered deposits to his bank

This is a previously unpublished post. I thought with the turn of events that it was a bit more relevant now.

Well it would appear that there is a serious problem in Luzerne County. And it is getting worse by the minute. while searching the Internet for information about Luzerne County I came opon this jewel. I wonder how Conahan will explain this away

I also found this article and then we have this lovely article .
BY DAVE JANOSKI
PROJECTS EDITOR
Published: Wednesday, July 23, 2008 11:03 AM EDT
Former Luzerne County President Judge Michael T. Conahan directed millions of government dollars to a bank of which he is a director by ordering the county’s magisterial district judges to deposit their fines there, county and state officials say.

First National Community Bank — where billionaire casino owner Louis A. DeNaples was chairman of the board until his recent indictment on perjury charges — handles about $7 million in deposits from those magisterial district courts each year, state and county audits show.

Conahan, whose financial holdings are a focus of an ongoing FBI investigation into the county courts, did not return phone messages seeking comment Tuesday.

Conahan’s decision to direct district court deposits to the bank came shortly before or after he was named to the bank board in 2003, county Court Administrator William Sharkey said Tuesday. Before that decision, the county’s 17 magisterial district judges, who handle traffic tickets, small civil cases and preliminary hearings in criminal cases, used banks of their own choosing.

Sharkey said the change was made because First National Community Bank, headquartered in Dunmore, offered a countywide courier service with daily pickup.

“Some of the magistrates had some concerns for security reasons. They weren’t too thrilled about taking deposits to the bank every day,” Sharkey said.

Sharkey said he didn’t know if the bank approached the county or if Conahan sought proposals from other banks.

“I’m not quite sure how that happened,” Sharkey said. “I’m not sure if they contacted the county and they offered the courier services or vice versa.”

James Koval, communications manager for the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts, confirmed that First National Community Bank is the depository for all district courts in Luzerne County. He said decisions about where to deposit fines from district courts are left up to the president judge in each county. The fines are divided between the state and county, with more than two-thirds typically going to the state.

Koval said his office exercises no oversight over the selection of the banks and has no rules governing the selection.

“I’m not aware of any rule that addresses this head-on,” Koval said.

Joseph A. Massa Jr., chief counsel for the state Judicial Conduct Board, which enforces the state Code of Judicial Conduct, did not return phone messages Tuesday.

Conahan was paid $57,583 as a director at First National Community Bancorp Inc. in 2007, according to the bank’s U.S. Security and Exchange Commission filings. He owns 55,927 shares in the bank worth $755,014 at Tuesday’s closing price of $13.50 per share.

DeNaples, a Dunmore businessman with holdings in landfills, used auto parts and real estate, owns about 10 percent of the bank’s 15.8 million outstanding shares. His brother and son, who are also directors of the bank, own about 9 percent. The DeNaples’ shares are worth $40 million.

The bank reported having $945 million in deposits in 2007.

DeNaples took a leave of absence from the bank board on Feb. 6 after he was charged with lying to state gaming regulators about ties to organized crime figures when seeking a license for his Mount Airy Casino Resort in Monroe County, which opened last year.

Federal banking regulators subsequently suspended him from the board and prohibited him from participating in the affairs of the bank while the charges are pending. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board barred DeNaples from Mount Airy and appointed a trustee to oversee the casino until the criminal case is concluded.

DeNaples, 67, and bank President and CEO J. David Lombardi, who is acting chairman of the board, did not return phone messages Tuesday.

Conahan, who retired last year at age 56 and is now a senior judge presiding over the county’s Drug Treatment Court, has declined comment on the ongoing federal probe.

Courthouse sources speaking on condition of anonymity say the FBI and IRS have questioned them about Conahan’s links to the former owner of a juvenile detention center. The center made millions from county contracts after Conahan decided to stop sending juveniles to an aging county-owned facility in 2003.

Conahan has described the former co-owner of the facility, Butler Township attorney Robert J. Powell, as a personal friend. The FBI seized county records detailing the county’s dealings with Powell’s center last month.

The Standard-Speaker first reported in May that Conahan and current President Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr., who presided over juvenile court for a dozen years, have a financial interest in a townhouse development firm headed by Powell’s law partner, county Prothonotary Jill A. Moran. Powell owned half of the townhouse firm until the second half of 2004.

The townhouse firm, W-Cat Inc., is building an 86-unit development in Wright Township called The Sanctuary with $4.5 million in funding through First National Community Bank. Another director of the bank, Michael G. Cestone, is president of the construction company building the townhouses, S.G. Mastriani Co. Inc.

Cestone did not return a phone message Tuesday.

[email protected]

Can we say oops, you are going to get busted. Bad judge go to jail and do not pass go.

This is Elmysterio and I’m out.
Comments Off more...

Copyright © 1999-2010 - All Rights Reserved. Great Atlantic Media Group - Atlanta, Georgia 30313 USA
Powered By GorgeousBoys Online Entertainment Network | Proudy Using WordPress
Great Atlantic Media Group Virtual Web Management By Great Atlantic Media Group