Again, ailing judge in ‘kids-for-cash’ case denied early release
A federal judge on Wednesday once again denied former Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella’s request for compassionate release due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a May court filing, Ciavarella claimed staff at his federal prison, including his case manager, selected him for early release to home confinement, but the warden refused to make the recommendation to the director of the federal Bureau of Prisons.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Conner, who has previously upheld Ciavarella’s 28-year prison sentence in the so-called ‘kids-for-cash’ case, released an order denying Ciavarella’s latest request for compassionate release, citing reasons the judge listed in the previous January 2021 rejection.
Despite Ciavarella having “extraordinary and compelling reasons” for early release — such as serious medical issues and the fact he’s an aging, first-time, non-violent offender who has exhibited good conduct in prison — they do not warrant a sentence reduction for “myriad reasons,” Conner wrote.
Namely, Ciavarella continues to downplay the seriousness of his “criminal scheme,” the judge wrote.
Ciavarella, 72, and another former county judge, Michael Conahan, were accused of accepting $2.8 million in exchange for funneling hundreds of juvenile defendants to for-profit detention centers.
Conahan, 70, was sentenced to 17½ years in federal prison, but was released on home confinement in June 2020 and now is monitored by the Bureau of Prisons residential reentry management field office in Miami, Florida.
In his request for compassionate release, Ciavarella argued he suffers from hypertension, hypothyroidism, hyperlipidemia, A-fib, pneumonia, bronchitis and kidney disease, which make him susceptible to COVID-19.
“The sentencing judge never intended to sentence Ciavarella to a death sentence ... Now, however, because of the unthinkable spread of COVID-19, resulting in a once-in-a-lifetime global pandemic, individuals who, like Ciavarella, suffer from a number of comorbidity medical conditions are dying at alarming rates,” Ciavarella wrote.
Federal prosecutors responded that Ciavarella’s sentence was appropriate and downplayed his fears about COVID since he is vaccinated and only one inmate out of 1,300 at his prison had the virus as of early June.
“Whether he will be safe at home or at his federal institution cannot be established,” prosecutors wrote.
Prosecutors also noted Ciavarella continues to downplay his crimes.
“He violated his oath of office by accepting bribes and kickbacks,” prosecutors wrote. “He laundered millions of dollars in criminal proceeds to hide the illicit funds from the law and public.”