Biden sparks outrage in Scranton by commuting ‘kids for money’ judge’s ruling

President Biden has sparked anger among Pennsylvanians after he commuted the sentence of a corrupt judge who was jailed for more than 17 years after he was caught taking kickbacks to send youths to for-profit detention facilities.

In what became known as the kids-for-money scandal, former judge Michael Conahan shut down a county-run juvenile detention center and split $2.8 million in illegal payments from the developer and co-owner of two for-profit lockups. Another judge, Mark Ciavarella, was also involved in the illegal scheme, the effects of which are still being felt today among victims and families.

The scandal is considered Pennsylvania’s largest judicial corruption scheme to date, with the state Supreme Court throwing out about 4,000 juvenile convictions involving more than 2,300 children after the scheme was exposed.

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Conahan, 72, pleaded guilty in 2010 to a single count of vandalism conspiracy, but was released from prison to home detention in 2020 due to COVID-19 health issues with six years left on his sentence.

But Biden, the so-called favorite son of Scranton, commuted Conahan’s sentence Thursday as part of the largest single-day clemency in modern history, commuting the prison terms of nearly 1,500 people and granting 39 pardons.

“My administration will continue to review pardon applications to promote equal justice under the law, advance public safety, support rehabilitation and reentry, and provide meaningful second chances,” the president said.

Sandy Fonzo, who once confronted Ciavarella outside federal court after her son was placed in juvenile detention and committedted suicide, said the president’s actions were an “injustice” and “deeply painful”.

“I’m shocked and I’m hurt,” Fonzo said in a statement, according to The Citizens Voice. “Conahan’s actions destroyed families, including mine, and my son’s death is a tragic reminder of the consequences of his abuse of power. This pardon feels like an injustice to all of us who are still suffering. Right now, I am processing and doing the best I can pain that this has brought back.”

The decision has raised questions about why Biden would choose to overturn the conviction of a judge loathed in the area.

Fox News has reached out to the White House for comment, but has not received a response.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said he opposed the president’s actions and insisted the judge should have received a longer prison term given the damage he caused to families.

“I feel strongly that President Biden got it completely wrong and caused a lot of pain here in northeastern Pennsylvania,” Shapiro said at a news conference in Scranton on Friday, adding that he was not privy to all the details of the decision.

“This was not only a black eye on society, the kids for cash scandal, but it also affected families in really deep and profound and sad ways. Some kids took their lives because of this. Families were torn apart. There were all kinds of mental health issues and anxiety that came as a result of these corrupt judges deciding they wanted to make money off a child’s back.”

“Honestly, I thought the sentence that the judge gave was too light and the fact that he’s been allowed to go out over the last few years because of COVID, was on house arrest and has now been assigned grace I think is totally wrong He should have been in prison for at least the 17 years he was sentenced by a jury of his peers He deserves to be behind bars and not walk a free man.

The scheme began in 2002, when Conahan closed the state juvenile detention center and used money from the Luzerne County budget to finance a multimillion-dollar lease for the private facilities.

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Ciavarella, who presided over the juvenile court, advanced a zero-tolerance policy that guaranteed large numbers of children would be sent to PA Child Care and its sister center, Western PA Child Care.

Ciavarella ordered children as young as 8 years old into detention, many of them first-time offenders who were considered criminals for petty theft, jaywalking, truancy, smoking on school grounds and other minor violations. The judge often ordered youths he found delinquent to be immediately chained, handcuffed and taken away without giving them a chance to defend themselves or even say goodbye to their families.

In 2022, both Conahan and Ciavarella were ordered to pay more than $200 million to the nearly 300 people they victimized, though the now-adult victims are unlikely to experience a fraction of the restitution.

During the trial, one victim described how he shook uncontrollably during a routine traffic stop — a consequence of the traumatizing effect of his childhood incarceration — and had to show his mental health records in court to “explain why my behavior was so erratic.”

Several of the childhood victims who were part of the trial when it began in 2009 have since died of overdoses or suicides, prosecutors said.

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The scheme, according to The Citizens Voice, involved former Pennsylvania attorney Robert Powell paying $770,000 to Ciavarella and Conahan, who in turn sent juvenile defendants to two private, for-profit detention centers that Powell partially owned.

Powell served an 18-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to felony counts of failing to report a crime and being an accessory to a conspiracy.

Real estate developer Robert K. Mericle paid the judges $2.1 million and was later charged with failing to disclose to investigators and a grand jury that he knew the judges were defrauding the government. Mericle served a year in federal prison, according to The Citizens Voice.

Ciavarella is serving a 28-year prison sentence on honest services mail fraud charges, according to the publication.

Fox News’ Matt Finn and The Associated Press contributed to this report.