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I've been following this case for a while .. extremely disturbing situation and the sentences were far too light for many of the offending parties, such as the

I've been following this case for a while .. extremely disturbing situation and the sentences were far too light for many of the offending parties, such as the builder of the facility who bribed the judges. Just imagine how it must have felt to be one of the kids. It's sick, really. It seems that if you hide behind corporate structures and contracts you can transform the nature of charges against your actions. In this case, the offenses committed involved enslaving children for personal financial gain. If there is any offense worse than that, please inform.

rayiner 13y ago
The judges received long sentences for their involvement. Robert Powell, co-owner of the facility and Robert Mericle, the developer who built the facilities, only pled guilty to failing to report a felony, failing to disclose money paid as a finders' fee, and conspiracy to tax evasion. They face one to three years each, but those sentences are consistent with the felonies to which they pled guilty. The plea deal is light for the two developers probably because the prosecutor didn't have as much evidence to pin on them, and because they needed their cooperation to get the judges. Remember, news articles about a crime are not admissible as the factual record in a trial. Just because it's obvious from a news article exactly what happened does not mean that the prosecutor didn't need to bargain for certain peoples' cooperation to bring all those facts to light.
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    - lifeisstillgood 13y ago
      It was meant to be somewhere between satire and horror that this could happen in a civilised society. It failed quite badly. Deleting. Edit: My original comment said use the NSA / anti terror apparatus against the child slavers in Lousiana. The sheer scale and obvious uses of those program's has managed to have such an impact that a once liberal Brit now can make off handed comments that evidence from torture and illegal surveillance is ok. No matter what happens, the sheer existence of those program's has changed the debate on them. Curious.
- argumentum 13y ago
  failing to disclose money paid as a finders' fee Umm .. they paid bribes to judges to enslave children. This isn't some tech startup recruiting employees.
  - rayiner 13y ago
    Robert Powell claims the judges extorted him: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2011/11/04/ex_owner_of_pa_youth_lockups_gets_18_months http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2011/11/04/ex_own.... It sounds ridiculous, but remember, the standard of proof at a criminal trial is "beyond a reasonable doubt." In a situation like this with four people pointing fingers at each other, giving the owners a plea deal probably ensured the prosecutors' ability to get the judges.
    - argumentum 13y ago
      Btw, I agree with you regarding why this outcome was reached. Doesn't change it being an unjust outcome. From the article you linked .. "Even though they were in positions of power and influence, I had the ultimate ability to do the right thing and say no. I was wrong for giving in and paying them and will forever bear the burden of having done so," he [Robert Powell] wrote. Whether or not they "extorted" him (though he still managed to profit in the millions), doesn't change the seriousness of what he did .. which was to enslave children.
      - rayiner 13y ago
        Btw, I don't disagree with you re: the seriousness of what they did. I'm just saying I see the tactical reason for why they were charged the way they were.
    - tptacek 13y ago
      Were those two people still sitting judges up until the time the other co-conspirators agreed to cooperate? If so, it would have been massively more important to take down the judges. Later The appeals decision upholding Ciavarella's conviction suggests that he was still a sitting judge at the time Powell began cooperating.

rayiner 13y ago

The judges received long sentences for their involvement. Robert Powell, co-owner of the facility and Robert Mericle, the developer who built the facilities, only pled guilty to failing to report a felony, failing to disclose money paid as a finders' fee, and conspiracy to tax evasion. They face one to three years each, but those sentences are consistent with the felonies to which they pled guilty. The plea deal is light for the two developers probably because the prosecutor didn't have as much evidence to pin on them, and because they needed their cooperation to get the judges. Remember, news articles about a crime are not admissible as the factual record in a trial. Just because it's obvious from a news article exactly what happened does not mean that the prosecutor didn't need to bargain for certain peoples' cooperation to bring all those facts to light.

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
- deleted 13y ago
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  - lifeisstillgood 13y ago
    It was meant to be somewhere between satire and horror that this could happen in a civilised society. It failed quite badly. Deleting. Edit: My original comment said use the NSA / anti terror apparatus against the child slavers in Lousiana. The sheer scale and obvious uses of those program's has managed to have such an impact that a once liberal Brit now can make off handed comments that evidence from torture and illegal surveillance is ok. No matter what happens, the sheer existence of those program's has changed the debate on them. Curious.
argumentum 13y ago
failing to disclose money paid as a finders' fee Umm .. they paid bribes to judges to enslave children. This isn't some tech startup recruiting employees.
- rayiner 13y ago
  Robert Powell claims the judges extorted him: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2011/11/04/ex_owner_of_pa_youth_lockups_gets_18_months http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2011/11/04/ex_own.... It sounds ridiculous, but remember, the standard of proof at a criminal trial is "beyond a reasonable doubt." In a situation like this with four people pointing fingers at each other, giving the owners a plea deal probably ensured the prosecutors' ability to get the judges.
  - argumentum 13y ago
    Btw, I agree with you regarding why this outcome was reached. Doesn't change it being an unjust outcome. From the article you linked .. "Even though they were in positions of power and influence, I had the ultimate ability to do the right thing and say no. I was wrong for giving in and paying them and will forever bear the burden of having done so," he [Robert Powell] wrote. Whether or not they "extorted" him (though he still managed to profit in the millions), doesn't change the seriousness of what he did .. which was to enslave children.
    - rayiner 13y ago
      Btw, I don't disagree with you re: the seriousness of what they did. I'm just saying I see the tactical reason for why they were charged the way they were.
  - tptacek 13y ago
    Were those two people still sitting judges up until the time the other co-conspirators agreed to cooperate? If so, it would have been massively more important to take down the judges. Later The appeals decision upholding Ciavarella's conviction suggests that he was still a sitting judge at the time Powell began cooperating.