PA. Judges Charged for Taking Kickbacks to Jail Kids
Two Pennsylvania judges have been charged with taking millions of dollars in kickbacks to send teenagers to two privately run youth detention centers. For years, youngsters were brought before judges through the juvenile court system in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. without a lawyer, given hearings that lasted only a minute or two, and then sent off to juvenile prison for months for minor offenses. Prosecutors say Judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan took $2.6 million in payoffs to put juvenile offenders in lockups run by PA Child Care LLC and a sister company, Western PA Child Care LLC. The judges were charged on Jan. 26 and removed from the bench by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court shortly afterward.
Tags: kickbacks, PA Child Care LLC, Pa., Pennsylvania, Western PA Child Care LLC, Wilkes-Barre
