Musto Arraignment Announced- December 15th

Last week Senator Ray Musto sought a postponement for his arraignment on federal charges of accepting cash and services in exchange for his influence as a public official.

The Times Leader is reporting that U.S. District Magistrate Judge Thomas Blewitt has set the date for December 15th at 11A.M. in the federal court in Scranton.

A biography on Judge Thomas Blewitt. Judge Blewitt handled this case involving child pornography that received some backlash over releasing the person charged on his own recognizance with ankle monitoring.

Musto has indicated he intends to have his day in court.

Confusion

I have to admit this. Despite those who thought otherwise I didn't believe Ray Musto was approachable by influence seekers. Call me naive, that's okay but I truly believed Musto to be better than that.

A report by the Times-Tribune has changed my mind. Today, Musto's attorneys' annouced a motion to postpone Musto's day in court. This action came despite yesterday's assertion by the Musto camp that he wanted his day in court. Bring it on and get it over with or not.

Mr. Musto should decide what strategy is best for him.. So far his horse is having trouble getting out of the gate.

Times Shamrock Reports Grand Jury Indicts Ray Musto

In a somewhat shocking revelation to the political community the Times Shamrock is reporting that State Senator Ray Musto has been indicted by a federal grand jury.

State Sen. Raphael Musto was indicted by a federal grand jury today on charges that he accepted tens of thousands of dollars in bribes and kickbacks from an unnamed company after supporting the company's efforts to secure state grants.

The company performed nearly $48,0000 in renovations on a building Mr. Musto owned in 2006 and billed him $25,000, according to the indictment. Mr. Musto issued a $25,000 check to the company, but representatives of the company then paid him $25,000 in cash, the grand jury alleged.

The company did an additional $10,000 worth of work on the building, but never billed Mr. Musto, according to the grand jury, and provided Mr. Musto with annual holiday gifts in 2005-2008 that Mr. Musto did not report on state financial disclosure forms, the indictment said.

The indictment identifies the company only as "Company A," but federal agents are known to have examined records in Pittston Twp. detailing renovations on a building Mr. Musto owned there. The company performing the renovations was Mericle Construction, owned by Robert K. Mericle. Mr. Mericle has already pleaded guilty in connection with illegal payments made to two county judges who lodged juveniles in two detention centers built by his company.

On April 22,2010 Michael Sisak, staff writer for Times Shamrock, wrote this piece about the link between Mericle and Musto.

The mystery surrounding a recent federal raid on state Sen. Raphael J. Musto's home and the subsequent seizure of Pittston Township building permits twisted toward clarity Wednesday as the township released documents tying the lawmaker to $40,000 worth of home renovations conducted by the construction wing of Luzerne County corruption figure Robert K. Mericle's real estate empire.

Mericle's firm, Mericle Construction, obtained building permits in February and May 2006 to perform $5,200 worth of roof repairs and $34,800 remodeling work on a Bryden Street house that has been in Musto's family for more than a half century. Musto, who inherited the property from his father in 1970, transferred ownership to his son, Raphael J. Musto Jr., in August 2006.

The property, which was rezoned from residential to commercial following the construction work, now serves as an office for Musto Jr.'s physical therapy practice, Physical Therapy Center Unlimited.

Ray Musto(real name Raphael John Musto) ended his 40 year political career by not seeking re-election this year. Musto started his ascent by winning a special election for the unexpired term of his father, James Musto, House of Representative's seat in 1971. In 1980 he won a special election to become Congressman of the 11th Congressional district. In 1982 he was elected to the Senate representing the 14th District of Pennsylvania.

On October 7, 2005 Congressman Paul Kanjorski honored Senator Musto on the floor of the United States House of Representatives for his Lifetime Achievement Award bestowed upon him by the Italian American Asssociation of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.

Link to the Musto Indictment Paperwork from the Times Leader.

The announcement from the Citizen Voice's website.

Musto To Remain Silent

Under the advisement of his attorney Senator Ray Musto has no comment on a visit from the FBI to his home recently. Mike Sisak of the Citizen's Voice writes that Musto's attorney John Riley offered these words to the media "We are not going to conduct things in the public arena,"

Anyone who has faced investigations knows that is the best advice an attorney can give any client regardless of guilt or innocence. The public's appetite for information is relegated to a seat in the back of the bus so that justice can be properly applied. Everyone is innocent until proven guilty.

Leighton's Campaign Finances- Ethical Issues

The Times Leader ran an article about donations from Marvin Slomowitz and William Rinaldi in reference to the dredge project in Hazleton. For some unknown reason reporter Andrew Seder brought State Rep. John Yudicahk into the donation picture without doing a similar look at Wilkes Barre Mayor Tom Leighton. Of course those on the inside know that Rep. Todd Eachus and Congressman Paul Kanjorski are supporting Leighton's efforts against Yudichak in the Senate race to replace retiring Senator Ray Musto's seat.

A look at Leighton's campaign finance records on the Luzerne County website reveals some interesting information.

Within the 6th Tuesday Pre-Election Campaign Finance Report the following donations bring up some curious questions. Diamond Manufacturing Company is listed as a $400.00 donor on 06/246/2009 found on page 16. Diamond Manufacturing is listed as a corporation on the state's Corporation Bureau. Pennsylvania prohibits direct corporate donations to campaigns.

In the 2nd Friday Pre-Election CFR in 2008 West Side Hammer Electric Inc, another corporate donor, of Bethlehem is listed as a donor in the amount of $300.00 on 07/09/2008.

Seder failed to point out Marvin Slomovitz's donation to Leighton on 05/27/2009 in the amount of $300.00 found on page 12.

Falzone Realty is listed with a donation of $300.00 on 03/27/2009 (and 06/12/2008) found on page 12 but a search for that entity failed to produce any results on the Corporate Bureau, Department of State licensing or Switchboard.com.

Oddly enough Falzone Towing Service, Inc., another Pennsylvania corporation, is listed at the address, 365 Pierce Street, Kingston, on the CFR and the Corporate Bureau. Since there is no listing at the Department of State for a realtor there seems to be a huge question about the validity of that donation.

Kane for District Justice is listed as a donor on page 10 in the total amount of $500.00 listed as $300.00 on 06/11/2009 and $200.00 on 06/29/2009. According to the Judicial Cannon 7 District Justices are not permitted to engage in political activity of this type. (1) A judge or a candidate for election to judicial office should not: (c) solicit funds for or pay an assessment or make a contribution to a political organization or candidate.

Robert Mericle gave a $300.00 donation on 06/10/2009 listed on page 19 and was charged by the U.S. Attorney's office on 08/13/2009. It had been common knowledge that Mr. Mericle was Participant No. 2 in a complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney on January 31, 2009 in the Luzerne County corruption scandal. Why did Tom Leighton accept the donation and why wasn't it returned?

On the in-kind contributions list are donations from Rodano's Restaurant and Patt Patte. If you read this Legal Opinion from the Chief Counsel of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board gift certificates awarded as prizes must be for food only, as the awarding of gift certificates that include alcoholic beverages would be prohibited for the reasons provided in response to your first question. Was there a disclaimer on those gift certificates?

In the 2nd Pre-Primary 2008 CFR Leighton lists a loan to himself from the campaign on 01/17/2008 in the amount of $2,000.00 found on page 6. He repays the loan back to the campaign on 04/01/2008 found on page 5. Loans to committees are permissable but loans from a campaign committee to oneself is another question.

In the 2nd Friday Pre-Election CFR from 2008 the report lists a fee for a bounced check on 07/25/2008 found on page 25.

One suspects Leighton felt comfortable with his reports and didn't anticipate Ray Musto's retirement or the scrutiny his candidacy would cause.

The FBI Removes Items From Senator Musto's Home

Unlike the veteran reporters who are writing about the FBI's visit to Senator Ray Musto's home in Pittston Township SOP will not say that "evidence" was removed from the premises. As far as we know there was no crime committed at the residence. The most that should be responsibly said is that "items" were removed from the residence in accordance with the provisions of the search warrant.

In this article from the Times Leader the caption under the photograph reads FBI agents carry plastic garbage bags of evidence they gathered Thursday during a search of state Sen. Ray Musto’s Pittston Township house and cars. Another article that appeared in the Citizen's Voice reads State Sen. Raphael Musto said he sat on his back porch and "enjoyed the sun" Thursday as federal agents spent more than two hours searching his Pittston Township home, removing three trash bags of evidence from the house and a satellite radio from his car.

At best the agents removed articles of interest that will be appropriately processed to see if they support the commission of a crime. In law, evidence are various things presented in court for the purpose of proving or disproving a matter brought before it for judgement. Evidence includes testimony, documents, photographs, maps and video tapes. Items can be excluded or stricken which is not evidence.

Musto said the agents contacted him at his Pittston district office about a half-hour before they arrived at his home. He said he had no prior contact with the agents beforeThursday. Speculation abounds over the search but the fact of the matter is not one person other than the agents really know why they executed the visit.

Somewhere in the near future we may glean the probable cause that justified the issuance of the search warrant. According to Wikipedia:
The most well-known definition of probable cause is "a reasonable belief that a person has committed a crime".[1] Another common definition is "a reasonable amount of suspicion, supported by circumstances sufficiently strong to justify a prudent and cautious person's belief that certain facts are probably true".[2]

In either case probable cause is a long way from actual charges. To date Senator Musto has not been charged by any authority. Only time will play out the scenes in this drama to reveal the need for the search to the public.

Report- Senator Ray Musto's Home Being Searched by FBI

The Eyewitness News Team is reporting on its website that the FBI executed a search warrant on the home of Senator Ray Musto. I-Team Investigator Andy Mehalshick spoke with the Senator after he arrived home.

Senator Ray Musto is Luzerne County District Attorney Jackie Musto Carroll's uncle.

More to come.

Senator Ray Musto To Retire

Ray Musto Citizen's Voice Photo
In a surprise move Senator Ray Musto is retiring from the Senate after 40 years of service to his constituents in the 14th Senate district according to the Times Leader. His term expires in 2010.

You can read more from Senator Musto's press release by clicking here.

"For many years, my wife and family have had to endure long periods when I've been away from home in Harrisburg and they did so without complaint," Musto said.

The veteran lawmaker served in the state House from 1971 to 1980. He began his career when he was elected in a special election in 1971 to fill his late father James Musto's unexpired term. Musto was then elected to Congress in a special election in 1980. In 1982, he was elected to the state Senate. Musto has the distinction of being among only a few public servants to serve in the U.S.Congress, the state House and state Senate.

"My father was an inspiration to me and still is to this day," Musto said. "He taught me the value of hard work, good friends and that in public service you don't have to dislike others because you disagree with them."

"It is my hope that the result of my long years of service is that the northeast and all Pennsylvania will be a better place to live, work and raise a family," Musto said. "I could not have served as long as I have without the support of a loving family, a dedicated and professional staff both in Harrisburg and the district as well as colleagues who listened and appreciated my efforts."