Wednesday, February 04, 2009

Luzerne County rumors

I take 2 days off from blogging and all hell brakes loose.


First off the rumor of Bill Sharkey was stealing the confiscated proceeds of video poker machines that are in just about every bar in the area turns out to be true. Sharkey is a long time employee of the courts who, until now, was most famous for engaging in that time honored local tradition of getting his relatives on the public payroll. His son works as juvenile probation officer as well as his daughter and his sister-in-law is in domestic relations. He's making $97,000 a year but still felt the need to embezzle $70,000 over the last 10 years. It's ironic that Governor Rendell announced today that he wants to legalize video poker machines to help pay for higher education.

I've heard it from enough reliable sources now to predict that Prothonotary Jill Moran will resign if she hasn't already. She is a business partner of the Juvie Brothers (Big Dan wins the contest) Judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan and a law partner of Participant 1, Robert Powell. She even falsified a tax lien changing Powell's name to John Doe. At the time I wasn't sure if that was a crime but a few lawyer friends say it is and the Feds seem to agree.

This one caught me by surprise. Luzerne County Commissioner Greg Skrepenak said he did not try to commit suicide. He also denies that he took any payoffs when he and Todd Vonderheid approved a 20 year $58 million lease for PA Child Care. I hope that is true but Skrep and the other Bond Brother have some explaining to do.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

watch the key word "pay off"

it is like Bary Bonds didn't take steroids, he probably didn't from his appearance it looks like he was taking human growth hormone.

or what is "sex" ala bill clinton.

listen to the phrasing or lack there of from the other bond bro.

D.B. Echo said...

Sounds like there are plenty of employment opportunities opening up in County government!

Anonymous said...

"Meet the new boss, same as the old boss!"

Coal Region Voice said...

Are there too many lawyers in county gov't.

McGruff said...

Skreps attestation about the Juvie Center parallels another Democrat's proffering to the public "I didn't have sexual relations with that woman". Vonderheid thought changing jobs would make his problem go away.

From luzernecountyjdcanaylasis.blogspot.com

Had the county built its own facility for which we paid over $446,000.00 in design costs these figures show the cost to Luzerne County taxpayers had Skrep and Vonderheid stayed with Makowski's plan:

Mortgage Information
Loan amount $10,000,000.00
Term 20 years
Interest rate 10.000%
Monthly payment $96,502.16
Total payments $23,160,521.88
Total interest $13,160,521.88

Far cry from $58 million and Luzerne County would have owned the facility. The old facility lasted 60 years.

They may not be actual thieves but their feigned stupidity means they violated their fiduciary duty of care to the taxpayers they serve.

Today's politician looks at the voter and proclaims "I am a Senator, I am a Congressman, I am a Commissioner, How dare you talk to me like that!" When we start saying that back to them things will change.

Skrep -How dare you think I am that stupid to buy your rhetoric?

Ed Finster said...

07/16/2005
County officials say juvie center lease saving money
By James Conmy , Staff Writer CV

One of Luzerne County's biggest budget problems is more cost-effective thanks to the lease of a Pittston Township juvenile center, said Sam Diaz, county chief of budget and finance.

Total expenses at the facility through the first six months of 2005 are $2.1 million, or 42 percent of the year's anticipated $5 million budget, Diaz said.

On the revenue side, the county estimated receiving $5.2 million from the facility in 2005. With $2.2 million billed through June and a more aggressive marketing campaign in place, the projections are on target, Diaz said.

Skrep and Diaz- So what exactly was that more aggresive marketing campaign???? Did you coax Ciavarella and others into sending more kids there???

Anonymous said...

I'm glad you mentioned Domestic Relations...

That is another entity that needs to be looked into for corruption and possible kick-backs by making single fathers pay out more than they can afford to even get by with basic means. They think their word is law and nobody can argue it.

I had a DRS worker use derrogatory comments toward me once and when I spoke up about it, he convinced his desk clerk outside his office to say that I was the one making the comments. Totally untrue.

This big family of scammers in the county needs to end. Fire all of them from the security guards to the rubber stamping judges.

Big Dan said...

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I won the contest!

I was cracking up when I read "The Juvie Brothers"...

Big Dan said...

Here's my question with Sharkey:

He obtained forfeiture order forms from a judge, which were then not returned. This is the point where he was able to have the confiscations "disappear", because he didn't return the forfeitures order forms to the judge.

What was the name of the judge who did not account for non-returned forfeiture orders? This judge must have known what was going on.

"Under court procedures, money seized by state police and the state Liquor Control Board during gambling investigations in Luzerne County was turned over to Sharkey, who then obtained forfeiture orders from county judges, prosecutors say. Under state law, the money was supposed to be turned over to the county treasurer’s office for use by the district attorney’s office. But from June 1998 through June 2008, Sharkey kept the money and never entered the forfeiture orders into the court records, prosecutors allege."

Apparently, Sharkey obtains forfeiture order forms from "a judge", right? Then, the treasury office should EXPECT the receipt of the forfeiture order forms. SO...the judge and/or the treasury office was in on this. The judge knew a forfeiture order form was obtained and not turned over to the treasury office. The treasury office should've known to expect the forfeiture order form from the judge from whom it was obtained.

I don't believe that the judge and/or even the treasury office was unaware of this. No way!

So, the cops turn over things they've confiscated from an arrest, and ONLY Sharkey knows about them? No way!!! Several people knew about it, including the cops who obtained the forfeitures. So, for years, no one EVER ASKED "what happened to all those forfeitures over all these years?" That is too hard to believe! I'm not stupid!!!

Does anyone believe this crap???

Big Dan said...

Does ANYONE believe that only Sharkey knew about all these missing forfeitures over all these years? I have a bridge to sell you........

Big Dan said...

OK: Let me spell it right out for you: you are a MORON if you think only Sharkey knew about this!!! An IDIOT!!! I'm so sick of this crap. I hope many more go to jail over this. You don't have to be a genius to know that many people had to be involved in this whole courthouse corruption fiasco. What about Powell, Mericle, and Mericle's COO and legal counsel attorney Lew Sebia?

So, the papers said that Mericle participated in laundering (is there a better word for it than that?) kickbacks to companies in Florida and that beverage company, controlled by Ciavarella and Conahan. And the COO and legal counsel attorney Lew Sebia for Mericle Construction was unaware of this? He's either lying or the worst COO ever!!!

If he's not lying, his resume will say: "Worked for Mericle Construction, where, right under my nose, they were laundering millions of dollars - yep, I didn't realize it!"

Big Dan said...

How about this: you build a juvie center BEFORE you have a contract. Doesn't that sound like your expecting insiders to float a contract your way in the future? Was he just building a juvie center for the "fun of it" at the time??? Come on!!!

Big Dan said...

Skrep & Vondy: "We need a new juvie center - Oh! What luck! Some guy just built a brand new unoccupied juvie center!!! How can we be this lucky???"

Big Dan said...

So, Sharkey obtains a forfeitures order form from a judge, right???

Then...what...nothing?????

The judge didn't notify the treasury department to expect this coming to them?

The treasury department didn't expect an order coming over?

Things confiscated from arrests just "disappear" and ONLY Sharkey knows about it?

There's no audit trail from the person obtaining the forfeitures order form to the end point which is the Treasury???

You can just "make things disappear" in between?

No checks and balances???

Too hard to believe, I don't buy it. More people than Sharkey knew about this.

Big Dan said...

No one ONCE, over all these years, said, "Hey! Whatever happened to that stuff taken from all those arrests over all these years?"

The cops have a record of what they confiscated, and that's never checked on? What happened to it??? No one checks on this??? It goes into a "black hole"??? wtf???