SCRANTON - Prominent area developer Robert Mericle has agreed to plead guilty to a federal charge of failing to report a felony, Acting U.S. Attorney Dennis Pfannenschmidt announced today.
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The agreement, which was signed July 31, calls for Mericle to plead guilty to one count of failing to report a felony. Prosecutors say Mericle failed to disclose his knowledge that former judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella had accepted kickbacks in exchange for rulings that benefited the PA and Western PA juvenile detention centers that Mericle built.
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The centers were owned at the time by Gregory Zappala and Robert Powell. Powell has also entered a guilty plea in the case. Included in the plea agreement Mericle has also agreed to pay $2.15 million for funding programs that will benefit "the health, safety and general welfare of children of Luzerne County." I guess you can try to buy your way out of anything.
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Alternate headlines from Big Dan
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"IT'S MIRACLE! MERICLE FINALLY CHARGED!"
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IT'S A MERICLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!""MERICLES DO HAPPEN!!!!!!!!!!"
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McGruff has
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And my favorite
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Pfahrvergnügen from Pfannenschmidt
LOL! Thankfully, we still all have a sense of humor with all this going on.
ReplyDeletePfahrvergnüge? Is that the safety word from euro trip?
ReplyDeleteWhat did you mean "try to buy your way out over anything." ??? I think he just DID buy his way out..
ReplyDeleteI guess all that money he gave to fat eddie Rendell and Obama is sure coming in handy now. Will there be outrage over the pitance of a jail sentence he gets? I sure hope so.
ReplyDeleteGuess who else Bobby gave a lot of campaign money to? If you guess Vonderthief and Skrapheap, you'd be right!!
We will see if the Judge approves this slap on the wrist.
ReplyDeletewell that money would pay off if our governor was term limited and was not going to run for higher office, so if this were the gov's last term and he didn't care too much about public opinon you might see a pardon
ReplyDeleteHay dan your buddy next??The fence guy
ReplyDeleteEvery dog get his day.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to imagine that someone would get 6 months at the juvie center for keying a car and Mericle gets 4 months for a $2MM bribe.
ReplyDeleteThe only way I can see him getting this deal is if he rolled on all the other scum - Vonderheid should be sweating at this point for signing the lease and Skrep has so many areas to worry about he mustn't know which way to turn.
Mericle is just as bad, from the "kids for cash" angle, as were the judges, in my opinion. As far as I'm concerned, everyone connected to this participated in "kids for cash", horrible people! Low!
ReplyDeleteThis young man pulled himself up by his own bootstraps and made something of himself--without asking Uncle Sam for a crooked welfare check. Mr. Mericle is a fine example of the American who can take small, original idea and become a millionaire. I cannot believe that the Obama Justice Department has taken down yet another fine young man in its endless effort to socialize our nation. What's next, the Department of Real Estate?? Damn!!! These accusations against this fine man are nothing but lies and he was probably blackmailed into a plea agreement. If more young people were like Mr. Mericle, Mr. Conahan, and Mr. Ciavarella, instead of the welfare cheats and young juvenile delinquints that I have to deal with every week at the supermarket, this world would be a better place. Hope you're all happy!!! Go to Hell, Gort!!!
ReplyDeletethat's right mean old asshole, he didn't take a crooked welfare check from the gov't, he made the gov't off and helped them hide his crooked payments. you are a fucking blow hard
ReplyDeleteMericle, 46, has already placed $2.1 million in an escrow account with his attorney, William Winning of the Philadelphia firm Cozen O'Connor, which will be donated to local programs that help children, the agreement says. U.S. District Judge Edwin M. Kosik must approve payments made from the account, acting upon recommendations from the prosecution and defense.
ReplyDeleteWHEN did Mericle do this?
Was it years before there was an inkling of the "kids for cash" scandal being exposed?
Or AFTER he had an inkling he was in trouble???
When is the EXACT DATE Mericle started this escrow "for the children"?
"Lewis Sebia, chief operations officer of Mericle Commercial Real Estate Services, which employs about 300 and is headquartered in Plains Township, declined comment."
ReplyDeleteAh! Lew Sebia again! And again "no comment"! So the chief operations officer of Mericle Commercial Real Estate Services, was unaware millions were going out the door of the company he was the watchdog for...but I'm sure he was "unaware" of it, right?
Next, Lew Sebia will resign to "spend more time with his family", I suppose.
ReplyDeleteOr maybe tell the grand jury the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
ReplyDeleteI swear to god with all my heart ,I hope that Mericle sings like a bird..And the droppings land all over Lackawanna County.
ReplyDeleteMericle helped create a lot of jobs in building the "Kids for Cash" prison though.
ReplyDelete