What Is Wrong With Our Judiciary??

If the fiasco with Ann Lokuta and Richard Sprague isn't enough to warrant a full scale explanation..witness this unbelievable fiasco involving the judge sent to take Michael T. Toole's place as reported by the Citizen's Voice.

Senior Judge C. Joseph Rehkamp, 61, faces charges of simple assault and harassment. Rehkamp allegedly got into a verbal argument with his wife Valerie on Saturday around 8:34 p.m. in their Plymouth Township home, state police at Wyoming report.

The argument turned physical, and police said Rehkamp pushed the victim down, slamming her into a chair, then placed both hands on her neck and began choking her until a third party interrupted. Rehkamp then fled the scene.

Michale T. Toole Enters Guilty Plea In Federal Court

According to the Times Leader's Terri Morgan-Besecker Judge Michael T. Toole has entered a guilty plea to two charges in federal court yesterday.

A subdued Toole appeared before U.S. District Judge Richard P. Conaboy to plead guilty to charges of honest services fraud and tax evasion.

“Your honor, with the strength of my faith and the support of my family and friends, I take complete responsibility for what I’ve done and will accept whatever punishment the court imposes,” Toole told Conaboy during the 45-minute hearing.

What Toole did, prosecutors say, is “corruptly abuse” his position as a judge to improperly influence an uninsured motorist arbitration case that came before him in 2006. In a separate matter, he also failed to report on his income taxes a $30,000 fee he received from another attorney.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office has not identified the attorneys involved in either case. Details contained in the charges indicate the attorney involved in the arbitration case was Harry Cardoni of Kingston. A source familiar with the probe identified the attorney who paid the referral fee as Robert Powell of Butler Township.

Toole, Piazza Enter Pleas

Acoording to the Times Leader Luzerne County Judge Michael Toole and former school employee Jeffrey Piazza are scheduled to enter guilty pleas to corruption charges in federal court in Scranton today.
Toole is scheduled to appear before U.S. District Judge Richard P. Conaboy at 11 a.m. while Piazza will enter his plea before U.S. District Judge James Munley at 10 a.m.

Toole, 49, of Wilkes-Barre, was charged on Dec. 2 with honest services fraud and tax evasion. Federal prosecutors say Toole improperly communicated with an attorney to determine who that attorney wished to have appointed as an arbitrator in an uninsured motorist insurance case. The attorney had permitted Toole to use the attorney’s beach house in New Jersey without charge, prosecutors say.

In a separate matter, Toole was also charged with failing to report on his income tax return $30,000 he received for referring a case to another attorney.

Prosecutors have not identified either attorney. Information contained in the charges indicates the attorney involved in the uninsured motorist case is Harry Cardoni of Kingston. A source familiar with the corruption probe identified attorney Robert Powell of Butler Township as the person who paid Toole the referral fee.


Between Attorney General Tom Corbett's investigation and the probe of the Luzerne County courthouse 50 public employees have been charged with a mirad of charges all pointing to corruption of obligation necessary for public trust. Yonki may feel taxes are the price we pay for a free and open society. All of these people were paid with taxpayer money. Is this the free and open society he was referring to?

Toole's Action Identify A Host of Problems

"The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words."- Philip K. Dick

Paper trails are a hard thing to hide. The Bonusgate players are finding that tenent a harsh reality. However, Judge Michael Toole is not leaving a paper trail but a cataclysmic trial trail the size and devastation associated with Chernobyl.

The latest news concerns the fact that disgraced Judge Toole continued to hear cases after he agreed to a plea deal with the FBI. According to Mark Guydish's column in the Times Leader the potential fallout is an unknown number at this point.

A partial review of Toole’s docket showed he had about 200 people – and probably quite a few more – appear before him since he signed the plea agreement Sept. 25. At times he had as many as 25 in a single day of rapid-fire guilty pleas, pre-arranged by attorneys...... the fact that Judge Michael Toole continued adjudicating for weeks after signing a plea agreement on corruption charges sits like a ticking time bomb with a potential no one can predict.

Toole worked at disgraced former Judge Ciavarella's law firm where he picked up some other fairly prominent government assignments. Maybe he picked up some bad habits there, too.

The same attorney names keep popping up in the Toole saga, Harry Cardoni and John Nardone. The latest news concerns an arbitration case where both names are involved. There is an allegation that an arbitrator was accused of improperly providing information to one of the litigants.

In addition to that case it has also been revealed that the two attorneys own a business together, Carnar Realty Company.

Records show Cardoni also sold a property on Reliance Drive in Wilkes-Barre to Doug and Sandra Namey Richards. Doug Richards was terminated at county human resources director Nov. 18 for failing to answer the administration’s questions about Continental Consultants Group, a company under investigation by federal agents.

Ther person who must really be pissed in this whole situation is Judge Chester Muroski. Toole put in for a "vacation request" after he signed his plea deal. Muroski talked to the media and said he has consulted with state officials and has determined that Judge Michael Toole’s decision to take a few weeks off for vacation is within the reasonable standard for judges....Toole notified Muroski last week that he will be on vacation for the next "few weeks." Uhh..Judge Toole make that the next few years.

With all of the public corruption brought to light in Luzerne County it only justifies this statement contained in A Report Released By Corporate Crime Reporter to the National Press Club in Washington D.C. on January 16, 2004,"....if a public official wants to violate his or her trust, the laws don’t stand in the way.

Judge Michael Toole Beached By The Feds

Times Leader Photo
Breaking news at 12:54P.M. today reported that Luzerne County Judge Michael Toole agreed to plead guilty to charges leveled at him by the Feds.

According to a complaint filed this afternoon, Toole secretly communicated with an attorney to detemine who that attorney wished to have appointed as a netural arbitrator in an underinsured motorist case. The attorney, who is identified only as participant #1, had given Toole free use of a New Jersey beach house. Toole failed to disclose that information to other parties involved in the arbitration case.

Toole is also charged with failing to report approxiamtely $30,000 he received as a referral fee from antoher attorney on his income tax return in 2006.

Contributions Received By Judge Michale Toole During 2003

Here is a link to contributors, 839 in all, to Judge Michael Toole during his 2003 campaign.