Scandal ignites fury amongst Luzerne County residents

The monumental “kids for cash” scam headed by former Luzerne County Judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella made international headlines while prompting an in-depth criminal investigation headed by the FBI.

After years of suspected corruption, abuse of power, and lies, this January, federal authorities finally turned their sights on Luzerne County.

For many Luzerne County residents, the scandal was the juiciest story of the year, but with time, they would find out that this was just the tip of the iceberg. In the next few months, there would be a total of five arrests  of individuals holding positions of power in the county.

Following the judges’ arrests,  U.S. Attorney Martin Carlson made a public plea for residents to report any evidence/acts of wrongdoing within the community. It was now time for the people to speak out and voice their suspicions.

In February, both Conahan and Ciavarella pleaded guilty to charges of tax evasion and depriving the public for accepting more than $2.6 million in kickbacks in exchange for rulings that benefited the owner and builder of the PA Child Care juvenile detention facility in Pittston Township.

Within the next few weeks, two more county officials – former court administrator William Sharkey and juvenile probation department official Sandra Brulo – were arrested.

Sharkey was charged with stealing more than $70,000 from the county, and Brulo was charged with altering a juvenile’s record in order to shield herself from liability in a lawsuit. Both have pleaded guilty.

As if this were not enough, at least two area school districts became the focus of the investigation probe. On April 16, Pittston Area Superintendent, Ross Scarantino was charged with accepting bribes in exchange for influencing the awarding of contracts. This revelation was quickly followed by Wilkes-Barre Area School Board member Brian Dunn, who was charged with accepting bribes for influencing contracts and teacher hires.

Prosecutors have not made any direct link between the two investigations, but Martens said it’s likely the school probe grew out of information uncovered while investigating the judges.

In the last four months, the scandal suspect list has more than doubled, giving the investigation probe all the more reason to dig deeper.

Like many, we pose the question; how did we let this happen? Was it because no one suspected such a precisely planned scheme in little area of Luzerne County, or was it because there was an impenetrable network of powerful individuals to keep secrecy?  Did community members simply feel too powerless to do anything about the inevitable corruption?

If these heads successfully flew under the radar for so long, how many others are out there executing similar operations?

The Beacon supports further investigation until every last possibility is exhausted, and every suspect is monitored. These events have forever blemished our wonderful county, and getting to the root of the problem is the only way to restore justice.