UPDATED: ‘Kids for Cash’ Judge to be Sentenced this Morning

UPDATE: Former Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella Jr. has been sentenced to 28 years in prison for his role in the ‘kids for cash’ scheme in which he was convicted of receiving money in exchange for sending youth to detention centers.

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SCRANTON – A crooked juvenile court judge, accused of sending possibly thousands of youth to detention centers in Luzerne County in exchange for money, will be sentenced this morning.

Former Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella Jr. was convicted of racketeering for accepting nearly $1 million from the builder of a pair of youth detention centers.

Ciavarella continues to deny the charges, but prosecutors say he accepted the money while sending thousands of youth to the detention centers.

Already referred to as one of the biggest courtroom scandals in U.S. history, the case has become known as ‘kids for cash’.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has dismissed thousands of convictions originally imposed by Ciavarella, stating Ciavarella disregarded the constitutional rights of youth offenders.

Ciaveralla is set to be sentenced this morning in a Scranton, PA federal courtroom.

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