Ciavarella's Pension Money Focus of Federal Court Conference
By: Eric Deabill
Updated: May 1, 2012
Scranton, Lackawanna County - An attorney for former Luzerne County judge Mark Ciavarella was back in federal court Tuesday morning.
It all had to do with what should happen to pension contributions Ciavarella made and where the money should go.
The conference was held behind closed doors with the judge, prosecutors and an attorney for Mark Ciavarella. It lasted only a few minutes.
The hearing revolved around what should happen to roughly $231,000 that Ciavarella paid into his pension before he was charged, convicted and sentenced.
Defense Attorney Bill Ruzzo said he is entitled to some of that money for Ciavarella's defense.
Prosecutors were originally looking to seize that money and apply it to the $1.1 million restitution order that Ciavarella still owes.
At Tuesday's conference, the judge and Ciavarella's attorney said the government agreed with the position that some of the money should go towards the legal fees.
The question that remains now is: how much of that money should go to the lawyers?
Ciavarella's attorney says they're going after the money because a plea deal fell through and they had to invest a lot of time and work in the trial.
Ciavarella did not attend the hearing.
He is still serving his 28 year prison sentence for sending kids to juvenile detention in exchange for getting kickbacks. The scandal was dubbed "Kids for Cash."
Ciavarella is currently appealing.
