Date: 08-27-2015

Case Style: Bernard Wallace, et al. v. Powell Law Group, P.C., et al.

Case Number: 3:09-cv-00286-ARC

Judge: A. Richard Caputo

Court: United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania

Plaintiff's Attorney: David Senoff, Bill Caroselli, James John Albert

Defendant's Attorney: Ruth S. Borland, Nathan J. Andrisani and Kimberly D. Borland for Mericle Construction, Inc., et al.

Nicole F Bednarek for Pinnacle Group Of Jupiter, LLC

Thomas Edward Brenner for Persens House, Inc.

William G. Brucker for PA Child Care, LLC

Description: Bernard Wallace, et al. sued Powell Law Group, P.C., et al. claiming that Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas judges Mark Ciavarella, Jr. and Michael Conahan in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania took brides totaling more than $2.6 million from Robert Powell and Robert Mericle, the co-owner and builder respectively, of two private, for-profit juvenile facilities in exchange for convicting juveniles and sentencing them confinement in Mid-Atlantic Youth Services Corporations private prison.

More than 2,400 children were sent to prison by the judges before the corruption was discovered.

Ciavarella was convicted and sentence to prison for his role in what became known as "kids for cash."

Powell was sentenced to 18 months in prison for his role in the scandal.

Outcome: Settled with Robert Powell and others for $4.75 million. The Plaintiffs previously reached a $2.5 million settlement with PA Child Care, Western PA Child Care, and another company. The builder of the facilities, Robert K. Mericle, who paid the judges more than $2 million, agreed in 2011 to pay more than $17 million to the juveniles and their families.

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

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