Trombetta loses legal argument over document

Charter founder’s sentencing in June

Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School founder Nick Trombetta and his attorneys, who have been sparring with the government for weeks following his conspiracy conviction, lost an attempt Friday to have a judge punish federal prosecutors for filing a pre-sentencing document publicly instead of under seal.

U.S. District Judge Joy Flowers Conti denied a motion to hold the U.S. Attorney’s office in contempt of court and impose a fine. She also ordered that the two documents in question — a routine defense filing asking for probation and the government’s answer — to be unsealed.

“This is an open court,” the judge told Trombetta lawyer Adam Hoffinger. “We don’t seal these proceedings.”

Mr. Trombetta pleaded guilty last year to tax conspiracy in siphoning off some $8 million from the school he created, although the exact amount is in dispute. His sentencing is set for June 20. He faces a possible five years behind bars but is unlikely to get that.

Mr. Hoffinger filed a document under seal in January in which he asked for probation and argued that the government did not prove his client was a leader of a conspiracy. The filing also contained information from a pre-sentence investigation report, Mr. Hoffinger said. Those reports are confidential.

He complained that the government violated court rules when it revealed part of that report in its own response filed in February on the public docket. He then took the unprecedented step of asking the judge to hold the U.S. Attorney’s office in contempt and issue a fine.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Kaufman said the defense filing contained no sensitive information about Mr. Trombetta and there was no reason for a seal in the first place. A review of the filing late Friday shows it is similar to those in many other criminal cases, with the defense asking for leniency, extolling Trombetta’s virtues and arguing his degree of culpability.

Judge Conti sided with the government.