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2009-09-12 -Lurid Crime Tales-
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Report: Pa. board told about judicial corruption
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A state ethics board received an anonyomous complaint about a former Pennsylvania judge more than two years before the judge was charged in federal court with corruption, a newspaper reported. The Legal Intelligencer of Philadelphia obtained a copy of the complaint made against former Luzerne County Judge Michael Conahan.
The complaint was filed with the Judicial Conduct Board in the fall of 2006. It includes numerous allegations of corruption, including the improper placement of youth offenders in a privately owned detention center, the newspaper reported Wednesday.
Conahan and another former Luzerne County judge, Mark Ciavarella, were charged in January with taking $2.6 million in payments from Robert Powell, the former co-owner of PA Child Care and Western PA Child care; and Robert Mericle, who built the facilities. The judges initially agreed to plead guilty to fraud but withdrew their pleas last month after a federal judge rejected a plea deal.
The conduct board forwarded the 2006 complaint to federal prosecutors, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Zubrod.
"We got that early on in the case," Zubrod told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "They were very cooperative with us. There was no hiding the ball."
It's not clear if the conduct board itself conducted an investigation. Joseph Massa, the board's chief counsel for the board, said confidentiality rules prevented him from commenting. Complaints against Pennsylvania judges only become public if the conduct board files charges. 
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Posted by Fred 2009-09-12 00:00||
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