United States v. Ciavarella

Decision Date24 August 2020
Docket NumberCRIMINAL NO. 3:09-CR-272
Citation481 F.Supp.3d 399
Parties UNITED STATES of America v. Mark A. CIAVARELLA, Jr., Defendant
CourtU.S. District Court — Middle District of Pennsylvania

Stephen R. Cerutti, II, C. D. Marchioli, Michael A. Consiglio, United States Attorney's Office, Harrisburg, PA, William Spencer Houser, United States Attorney's Office, Scranton, PA, for United States of America.

MEMORANDUM

Christopher C. Conner, United States District Judge

Defendant Mark A. Ciavarella, Jr., is a former judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. In February 2011, a jury found Ciavarella guilty of racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, honest-services mail fraud, money-laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and subscribing and filing a materially false tax return. Ciavarella was sentenced to 336 months’ imprisonment. In 2018, we vacated three of Ciavarella's convictions pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 after concluding that he had been prejudiced by his trial counsel's failure to raise a statute-of-limitations defense. The parties now dispute what relief, if any, Ciavarella is entitled to under Section 2255.

I. Factual Background & Procedural History 1

Ciavarella served as judge on the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas from 1996 through January of 2009. United States v. Ciavarella, 716 F.3d 705, 713 (3d Cir. 2013). During his tenure, Ciavarella served primarily on the Juvenile Court. Id. Ciavarella was appointed President Judge in January of 2007, succeeding his former colleague and codefendant, Michael T. Conahan. Id. at 713-14. In late 2008, Ciavarella and Conahan were accused of receiving nearly $3 million in exchange for their respective roles in facilitating construction and ensuring continued operation of two private juvenile detention centers in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Id. at 713. Two other key players—commercial builder Robert Mericle and local attorney and businessman Robert Powell—were also criminally charged. See United States v. Mericle, No. 3:09-CR-247, Doc. 1 (M.D. Pa. Aug. 13, 2009); United States v. Powell, No. 3:09-CR-189, Doc. 1 (M.D. Pa. June 6, 2009).

Prosecution of Ciavarella and Conahan began with the filing of a felony information charging honest-services wire fraud and conspiracy to defraud the United States. See United States v. Ciavarella, No. 3:09-CR-28, Doc. 1 (M.D. Pa. Jan. 26, 2009). Both defendants entered into Rule 11(c)(1)(C) plea agreements in which all parties stipulated to a binding sentencing recommendation of 87 months’ imprisonment. See id., Docs. 3, 5. Following receipt and review of defendants’ presentence reports, the late Judge Edwin M. Kosik rejected the plea agreements, concluding that the proposed sentences fell "well below" the Guidelines for the offenses charged. United States v. Conahan, No. 3:09-CR-28, 2009 WL 6032443, at *2-3 (M.D. Pa. July 31, 2009). Ciavarella and Conahan withdrew their guilty pleas.

On September 9, 2009, a grand jury returned a 48-count indictment against Ciavarella and Conahan. Defendants answered the indictment with a barrage of pretrial motions—44 in all. Shortly thereafter, Conahan agreed to plead guilty to racketeering conspiracy. Judge Kosik accepted Conahan's guilty plea on July 23, 2010.

Two months later, the grand jury returned a 39-count superseding indictment charging Ciavarella as follows:

• Count 1: racketeering, in violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c), between approximately June of 2000 and January 1, 2007;
• Count 2: racketeering conspiracy, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d), from on or about December of 2001 to on or about the date of the superseding indictment;
• Counts 3 through 6: honest-services wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1343 and 1346, for a scheme executed through wire transmissions on July 12, 2004; September 23, 2004; July 15, 2005; and February 3, 2006, respectively; • Counts 7 through 10: honest-services mail fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1341 and 1346, for a scheme executed through the mailing of materially false annual statements of financial interests to the Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts in April 2004, March 2005, April 2006, and March 2007, respectively;
• Counts 11 through 20: corrupt receipt of a bribe or reward for official action concerning programs receiving federal funds, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 666(a)(1)(B), for payments received between February 15 and February 24, 2004; on April 30, 2004; on July 12, 2004; on September 23, 2004; on July 15, 2005; on February 3, 2006; on August 16, 2006; on November 1, 2006; on November 20, 2006; and on December 18, 2006, respectively;
• Count 21: conspiracy to launder money, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h), from on or about January 1, 2001, to on or about the date of the superseding indictment;
• Counts 22 through 26: money laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(1)(B)(i), on or about January 20, 2004; February 24, 2004; May 3, 2004; July 12, 2004; and September 23, 2004;
• Counts 27 through 34: extortion, in violation of the Hobbs Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1951, for payments between February 15 and February 24, 2004; on April 30, 2004; on July 12, 2004; on September 23, 2004; on August 16, 2006; on November 1, 2006; on November 20, 2006; and on December 18, 2006, respectively;
• Count 35: conspiracy to defraud the United States, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371, between on or about January 1, 2002, and May 21, 2007; and
• Counts 36 through 39: subscribing and filing a materially false tax return, in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7206(1), on or about April 15, 2004; April 15, 2005; April 15, 2006; and April 15, 2007, respectively.

Count 1 alleged 13 separate acts of racketeering activity to support the racketeering charge. The superseding indictment also included a forfeiture notice. Ciavarella renewed his earlier pretrial motions and filed several additional motions to dismiss. Judge Kosik denied those motions in a memorandum and order dated December 15, 2010.

Ciavarella's trial commenced with jury selection on February 7, 2011. Evidence at trial established that Ciavarella and Conahan introduced Powell and Mericle to one another with the goal of constructing a private juvenile detention center in Luzerne County to replace a dilapidated county-run facility. See Ciavarella, 716 F.3d at 714. Powell and a business associate created Pennsylvania Child Care, LLC ("PACC"), to develop the center and hired Mericle's construction company to build it. Id. As part of a successful effort to thwart the county's plan to build its own facility, and in order to assist Powell in securing a bank loan, Ciavarella and Conahan executed a placement agreement between the county and PACC, guaranteeing placement of the county's juvenile offenders at PACC at a contract price of $1.314 million per year. Id. In January 2003, as construction neared completion, Mericle transferred a "referral fee" of $997,600 in three separate payments to Ciavarella and Conahan in a series of wire transfers between various conduits. Id.

The jury heard evidence that Ciavarella, in his capacity as judge on the Juvenile Court, "leveraged" his position "to place juvenile offenders with PACC" to ensure the facility's continued success. Id. at 715. According to Powell's trial testimony, both Ciavarella and Conahan believed they were entitled to join in that success. See id. The judges directed Powell to transfer their perceived "share" of the profits to Pinnacle Group of Jupiter, LLC ("Pinnacle"), a corporation they formed with their wives and used to channel funds associated with PACC. Id. at 714-15. From January through September 2004, Powell made payments to Pinnacle totaling $590,000. Id. at 715. He disguised the payments by labeling them as "rent" for an uninhabitable condominium purchased by Pinnacle in Jupiter, Florida. Id.

When Mericle and Powell decided to build a second juvenile detention center, Western PA Child Care ("WPACC"), and to expand PACC, Ciavarella and Conahan received two more "referral fees": $1 million in July 2005 for WPACC's construction and $150,000 in February 2006 for PACC's expansion. Id. at 714. Powell distributed additional proceeds to the judges totaling $143,500 between August and December 2006 by delivering "boxes filled with cash" to Conahan and his judicial assistant. Id. at 715. Ciavarella admitted at trial that he falsified tax returns to conceal his additional income from the Internal Revenue Service and failed to report financial interests in PACC and WPACC to the Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts. (See Doc. 235, 2/15/11 Trial Tr. 58:18-59:19, 69:7-72:2); see also Ciavarella, 716 F.3d at 714-15. He denied that any payments were bribes, kickbacks, or the product of extortion (he "always considered that money to be a legal finder's fee"), (Doc. 235, 2/15/11 Trial Tr. 25:18-26:13; see also id. at 67:17-19; Doc. 232, 2/8/11 Trial Tr. 27:16-28:8, 31:25-45:21), and he denied any knowledge of the "rent" payments and the deliveries of cash, (see, e.g., Doc. 235, 2/15/11 Trial Tr. 29:6-32:12, 46:18-47:3, 64:4-6, 65:11-16, 66:3-7).

After seven days of evidence and two and a half days of deliberation, the jury convicted Ciavarella on 12 of 39 counts: racketeering (Count 1), racketeering conspiracy (Count 2), all four counts of honest-services mail fraud (Counts 7-10), money-laundering conspiracy (Count 21), conspiracy to defraud the United States (Count 35), and all four counts of subscribing and filing a materially false tax return (Counts 36-39). The jury identified two acts of racketeering activity in support of its verdict on Count 1: Racketeering Act One, charging honest-services wire fraud for $997,600 in wire transfers on January 21, January 24, and January 28, 2003, and Racketeering Act Thirteen, charging money-laundering conspiracy. Ciavarella filed several posttrial motions, all of which were denied.

The presentence report...

To continue reading

Request your trial
3 cases
  • United States v. Smith
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania
    • January 10, 2022
    ... ... Dist. LEXIS 126088, at *20 ... (W.D. Pa. July 17, 2020) (“A defendant's entire ... sentence merits review under the sentencing package if the ... sentencing court viewed the original sentence as a ... package.”); but see United States v ... Ciavarella , 481 F.Supp.3d 399, 408 (M. D. Pa. 2020) ... (“[G]rouping alone is not dispositive for purposes of ... the sentencing package doctrine.”). “[W]hether a ... sentence is a ‘package' is determined at [the] time ... of sentencing.” Davis , 112 F.3d at 122 n.5 ... ...
  • Clark v. United States
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of New Jersey
    • August 12, 2021
    ...does not require resentencing de novo. See U.S. v. Ciavarella, 716 F.3d 705, 734 (3d Cir. 2013); see also United States v. Ciavarella, 481 F.Supp.3d 399, 409 (M.D. Pa., 2020) (explaining that for the sentencing package doctrine to apply “there must be some obvious link between the vacated c......
  • Clarke v. Doll
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Middle District of Pennsylvania
    • August 24, 2020
    ... ... 3:20-CV-31United States District Court, M.D. Pennsylvania.Signed August 24, 2020Will W. Sachse, Sozi P. Tulante, Dechert ... Department of Homeland Security, William Barr.MEMORANDUM Christopher C. Conner, United States District JudgePetitioner Nathaniel Clarke filed the instant petition for writ of habeas ... ...

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT