Lawyer gets retroactive suspension

WILKES-BARRE — Nearly seven years after being temporarily suspended from practicing law, a Kingston-based attorney who admitted to giving “items of value” to a former county judge has resolved the disciplinary case against him.

Harry V. Cardoni of Harveys Lake agreed to a five-year suspension that was applied retroactively, according to an order the Office of Disciplinary Counsel filed last week.

Cardoni was temporarily suspended after admitting he gave former Luzerne County Judge Michael Toole perks in exchange for the judge appointing Cardoni’s preferred arbitrator in an insurance case, resulting in an award of about $1 million.

Toole pleaded guilty to accepting an illegal gratuity, and failing to pay taxes on a “finder’s fee” he received from Kids-for-Cash figure Robert J. Powell.

who admitted paying $770,000 in bribes to former Luzerne County judges Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. and Michael T. Conahan in exchange for them funneling juvenile defendants to two private detention centers Powell partly owned.

Toole was sentenced to serve 2½ years in prison and ordered to pay $5,000 in fines.

Cardoni cooperated with prosecutors, who said he “expressed genuine remorse” for his actions. He was never charged with a crime.

But the Office of Disciplinary Counsel for the Supreme Court temporarily suspended his license based on his admission to providing items of value to Toole.

In the time since, Cardoni has been helping elderly family members, managing several properties he owns and assisting a friend and family member in developing several businesses, according to a petition filed in May.

The petition says Cardoni has also completed the continuing legal education requirements since he was temporarily suspended and that he understands he will need to file a petition seeking reinstatement to the state bar association if he intends to return as a practicing attorney.

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Lawyer gets retroactive suspension