PHILADELPHIA – While he was found guilty on the most egregious charges at the heart of his case, including racketeering, former Luzerne County Common Pleas Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. escaped a bribery conviction because a federal jury in Scranton “bent over backward” to follow its instructions to the letter, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon A. Zubrod.
“The verdict was not a conclusion that bribery did not occur,” Zubrod said following the trial, explaining that the jury likely had difficulty tracing where the money developer Robert K. Mericle paid to Ciavarella went after it was deposited and therefore felt the burden of proof had not been met.
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