Opinion ID: 869748
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Replacement of the Existing County-Run

Text: Juvenile Detention Center Ciavarella served on the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas from 1996 through January 2009. He primarily served on the Juvenile Court, and in January 2007, was named President Judge of the Court, succeeding Judge 4 Michael Conahan who had served as President Judge since January 2002. The circumstances relating to the various counts in the Indictment began in 2000. That year, Ciavarella and Conahan, along with other county officials, began expressing concerns about the serious disrepair and deplorable conditions at the Luzerne County Juvenile Detention Facility. Some county officials wanted to build a new county-run detention center, but Ciavarella advocated for the construction of a private facility, which could then be leased to the county. Ciavarella along with Conahan helped bring together potential investors for this project, including Robert Powell, a lawyer and friend of Conahan, and Robert Mericle, a local commercial builder and friend of Ciavarella. Powell and his business associate, Greg Zappala, ultimately created Pennsylvania Child Care, LLC (“PACC”) to develop the new private juvenile detention center, and Powell hired Mericle Construction Company to build it. In July 2001, Mericle informed Ciavarella that he would pay him a referral fee of 10% of the contract price, and Ciavarella asked him to make the payment through Powell. Ciavarella and Conahan agreed to split the payment because Conahan “put the deal together.” App. 1205.