Court scandal claims another

A Northeast Pennsylvania builder will plead guilty in a "kids-for-cash" scheme in which judges allegedly took kickbacks to place juveniles in private detention centers, authorities said yesterday.

Robert K. Mericle is the 11th person charged in a sweeping Luzerne County corruption probe that has brought down two judges, a school superintendent, a court administrator, and others.

Mericle, 46, of Wilkes-Barre, failed to tell a federal grand jury about $2.1 million in payments to ousted county judges Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. and Michael T. Conahan, prosecutors said yesterday. As part of his plea, he has agreed to pay $2.15 million to fund local children's health and welfare programs.

Mericle could receive up to three years in prison and a maximum $250,000 fine.

PA Child Care owner Robert Powell, a lawyer, pleaded guilty last month to paying kickbacks to the judges, who shut down a county-run facility and sent troubled youth to Powell's jails, sometimes for minor infractions.

Mericle Construction Inc., a large commercial developer based in Wilkes-Barre, built the juvenile detention centers.

"Mr. Mericle has fully cooperated with the government's ongoing investigation and prosecution, and will continue to do so in every respect," defense lawyer William J. Winning said in a statement yesterday.

Through statements released by his firm, Mericle previously denied wrongdoing.

The former judges' guilty pleas to tax and fraud charges are on hold after a federal judge this month rejected the 87-month sentences.

They have until Aug. 30 to withdraw their guilty pleas and head to trial, or keep them intact and let Senior U.S. District Judge Edward M. Kosik sentence them.

Child advocates helped spark the judicial investigation through complaints that juveniles were being detained for months for even petty offenses, after hearings that lasted just minutes. Ciavarella handled most of the juvenile caseload in recent years, and routinely had children appear without lawyers.