Gregory Zappala, the owner of the juvenile detention facility at the heart of the "kids-for-cash" judicial corruption scandal in Luzerne County, suffered a setback this week when a federal judge ruled that his insurer has no duty to defend him in a spate of civil suits.Prosecutors have never charged Zappala with any wrongdoing, but the civil suits allege that he was part of a RICO conspiracy and was aware that kickbacks were being paid by his former partner to judges in order to guarantee that a steady stream of youths would be sent to a juvenile detention facility owned by Zappala's company.
Zappala, the owner of Mid-Atlantic Youth Services, has argued in court papers that he never knew that former MAYS co-owner Robert Powell paid kickbacks to former Judges Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. and Michael T. Conahan.
Full Article and Source:
Judge: Facility Owner's Insurer has no Duty to Defend Luzerne Suits
5 comments:
Why should an insurer pay for criminal activity?
Good point, Thelma!
So, who is paying for Conahan and Ciavarella's defenses?
Sicilian Mob in Winner’s Circle – PA Children Dead Last
By Mike Ference
One could only hope that the PA Judicial System had as much integrity as Sandy Fonzo has tenacity. Maybe justice would have been served years ago in the now infamous “Kids for Cash” scandal. Two Pennsylvania judges received $2.6 million in kickbacks for sending more than 6,000 pre-teen and teenage children to PA Child Care juvenile detention centers in Pittston Township and Butler County. If you do the math, PA children were bought and sold for less than $500.
Fonzo’s son committed suicide after being a victim Ciavarella’s kangaroo cash court. According to family members, this spirited champion wrestler and potential college graduate was never the same after spending 2 terms in two private detention centers owned by Gregory Zappala, son of former PA Supreme Court Chief Justice Stephen Zappala and brother of current Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala, Jr., the second largest county in PA.
Most criminals would shy away from trying to extort money from a person with those types of connections, but in Luzerne County, anything is possible. So far, Zappala has not been charged.
Early in the investigation, Stephen Zappala Jr., labeled his brother, Gregory, a victim, according to media reports. Ironically, on June 1, 2010, the same day Fonzo’s son committed suicide, Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, then, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) appointed Stephen Zappala Jr. to a three-year term to the National Review Board. Board. Board members collaborate with the USCCB in preventing the sexual abuse of minors in the United States by persons in the service of the church.
One can only wonder how long the system was rigged to make child trafficking so easy. Allegations have been made that the Sicilian mob was involved, and intimidated both victims and potential whistleblowers to keep quiet. If that’s true, where is the outrage from just one Italian-American Social club or organization? And why aren’t they standing behind Fonzo?
Whether a group of judges, mobsters, business owners and politicians actually sat down in a room together to hatch this unsavory plot or not, something this complex can only be called “organized crime”, and when something this horrific happens, anyone not actively working to fix the problem shares in the guilt.
http://www.yardbird.com/luna_murder_resembles_1932_PA_mob_hit.htm
Cut and paste this link to better understand how the Zappala family operates.
Mike Ference
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