Bill Sharkey is an embezzler

W-B: Luzerne County Court Administrator William T. Sharkey pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement this morning in federal court.

Usually a plea agreement and a court hearing answers the questions surrounding the crime. But there are many questions that have not been answered yet in this case. Reading the Indictment and Plea agreement I have to ask which Judges signed the forfeiture orders and why was he able to get away this for 10 years? The theft was discovered when the state police went to District Attorney Jackie Musto Carroll to ask for some of the ill gotten gains to buy some new equipment. She checked the accounts and discovered the money wasn't there and called in the FBI. I find it hard to believe that the state police and other agencies were not aware of past forfeitures and asked for a piece of the pie.

Her predecessor, who is now a Judge, David Lupas was the District Attorney for most of the time that Sharkey was stealing these funds. We all know that paperwork and accountability were not Lupas' strong points. Lupas recently sentenced a Pittston Township secretary who pleaded guilty to stealing more than $31,000 from the township to house arrest. Judge Mark Ciavarella did the same thing when a couple of people got caught stealing really big bucks from the Recorder of Deeds office.