Two Luzerne County, Pa., judges have conditionally agreed to plead guilty and serve more than seven years each in prison for their roles in a Dickensian scheme to channel juvenile offenders into a private detention facility in exchange for payments from the owners.
The announcement by federal prosecutors of the conditional plea agreements with former President Judge Mark Ciavarella Jr. and Judge Michael Conahan came Monday in Scranton. U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania Martin Carlson indicated that the indictment against the veteran judges was the first set of charges and that the investigation was ongoing.
