Day #5 - The Ciavarella Trial

The Prosecution Wraps Up With A Shocker!


Day #5 of the Mark Ciavarella trial saw the Federal Prosecutors wrap up their case without calling any juvenile probation officers to the stand. This was very puzzling since the indictment against "Ciavy" includes allegations that he pressured probation officials to detain children to his and Conahan's cash cows, the PA Child Care and Western PA Child Care Juvenile Detention Centers. This move had me scratching my head as well since the real victims here other than the tax payers were the kids he sent up the river for very minor offenses. Overall, the Feds presented 24 witnesses over a 5 day span. Yesterday, the prosecution called IRS agents Brian Berntson and Ray Eppley to the stand where they testified about all of the income the two crooked judges were hiding from the Federal Government. No wonder the national deficit is so high! "Ciavy" had a total income of $1.6 million from 2003 to 2006 but reported only $944,331.00 for that period. He must have forgotten about the other $722,743.00. He ended up paying about $231,623 less in taxes. Conahan had a total income for that period of......wait until you see this....$2.5 million but only reported $1.8 million of that. That resulted in him cheating the government out of $263,062. These two thieves cheated, We The People out of $494,685.00 in taxes. These dollar amounts are staggering! My eyes bleed when I read about this! It appears that the Feds may have put "Ciavy" in the box, but by not calling the Juvie Officials to the stand they did not slam the lid and cover it with dirt. They may have left the door ajar for some charges to not stick. I guess its tough to stick to a slimy eel?

The second half of Day #5 saw the Defense open their case with a bevy of "Ciavy's" relatives taking the stand to testify. Among the people on the hot seat yesterday were Attorney Brian Stahl (husband of Ciavy's daughter), Nicole Oravic (Ciavy's daughter), Marco Ciavarella (Ciavy's son) and Gina Carelli (the ex-fiancee of former Hazleton Mayor Michael Marsicano). This line up right out of Sicily testified that Robert Powell often went to Conahan's house and then crept over next door to Ciavy's house for a few cocktails and a dip in the pool. I bet you didn't know that these two were neighbors? Gina Carelli gave the most interesting testimony when she recalled a story of when she went to pick up her former boyfriend Marsicano at the airport and saw Powell leaving the plane with "a high ranking state official". She claimed that she saw "The Slip" Powell hand this official that will remain nameless two envelopes which were not sealed and filled with cash. She also stated that "The Slip" was having an affair and planned to leave his wife. No surprise there! I wonder who that "high ranking state official" was? Could it be someone with the initials of R.M.? Who knows?

Day #6 should see the defense quickly wrap up their case with "Ciavy" himself taking the stand. This should be good!