Larry
Hohol is the author of the new book, "The Luzerne County Railroad". A
story about corruption in the American judicial system, the book will
shake you to your core. Each chapter will leave you amazed by the new
depth of brazen greed and corruption. If you think it couldn't get any
worse, the next chapter will prove you wrong.
If you care about freedom and equality in America, you must read this book!
Posted by Larry Hohol on Saturday, December 10, 2011,
In :
Current News
I am trying to think back over the decades of how many civil and criminal cases have been fixed in Luzerne County. It is mind boggling. The Citizen's Voice caught a number of huge breaks here. Judge Ciavarella being found guilty of corruption is on the top of the list. Another break is that the Voice had deep enough pockets to continue on for almost a decade. The scariest part of all of this is the fact that NONE of the safety nets worked. The Appeals Court rubber stamped Ciavarella's origina... Continue reading ...
From the November 11, 2011 The Legal Intelligencer, written by Hank Grezlak. My comment follows the article.
It's Open Season on Children in Pennsylvania
In light of the Penn State sex abuse scandal, Pennsylvania really needs to change its nickname from the Keystone State to the Child Abuser State.
The shameful moniker fits. After a decade that has already included the Archdiocese of Philadelphia priest sex abuse scandal and the Luzerne County judicial scandal featuring "kids-for-cash," how c... Continue reading ...
Posted by Larry Hohol on Thursday, September 1, 2011,
In :
Larry's News
Fireworks, fair queens, rodeos, concerts and good food are not the only reasons to visit the Luzerne County Fair this year - I'll be there! I will have a booth at the fair from Wednesday, September 7, 2011 until Sunday, September 11. I will be offering my book, The Luzerne County Railroad along with other very interesting items. More importantly, I hope to be visiting with all of my friends.
The great news doesn't end there! I have been invited for a return appearance at the Barnes and Nob... Continue reading ...
Posted by Larry Hohol on Thursday, August 4, 2011,
In :
Larry's News
My interview by Sue Henry, host of "The Sue Henry Show" on
WILK-FM, 103.1 in Wilkes-Barre on June 16, 2011 as a part of the "Barnes
and Noble Author Event" was a very successful and enjoyable experience. The scheduled 20 minute appearance was
extended to two hours after the switchboard lit up solid with phone
calls from listeners. The call-in listeners were great! We had some very interesting and revealing conversations. The video is in six parts.
Posted by Larry Hohol on Friday, July 1, 2011,
In :
Larry's News
Here
is my June 17, 2011 interview on WBRE TV channel 28, an NBC affiliate
in Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania. I am grateful to the WBRE team for the
professional interview they gave me!
Posted by Larry Hohol on Tuesday, June 14, 2011,
In :
Larry's News
The first day of the Barnes & Noble Author Event kicks off with a radio interview on WILK 103.1 FM in Wilkes Barre. I will be interviewed live by Sue Henry during "The Sue Henry Show" on Thursday, June 16 at 10:07 AM. We will be talking about my book "The Luzerne County Railroad", judicial corruption and kids for cash.
If you don't have access to an FM radio you can listen to my interview on the The Sue Henry Show live on the WILK FM website.
I am here to tell you that it is one of life’s greatest moments when someone totally unknown to you reads a book you have written about your life and then writes a review of this magnitude. I wish my book was about a subject that was more pleasant and inspiring. A book about succeeding in business and in life in general seems like it would be a better fit for me and who I am. That was not meant to be.
Little did I know when I was going through my very lonely, gut wrenching e... Continue reading ...
Posted by Larry Hohol on Sunday, April 10, 2011,
In :
Current News
I would love to be the first to tell everyone that with the 30 month prison term of Ex-Judge Michael Toole, we can all now live “happily ever after”, but I can’t. Compared to the massive corruption that has occurred in the Luzerne County Courthouse over the past century what Ex-Judge Toole has been sentenced for here is mere “Childs Play”. Not reporting a $30,000.00 finder’s fee (that’s code for a bribe) and using a vacation home a few times for free is NOTHING compared to the... Continue reading ...
I have a great idea. How about an in-depth investigation into the entire Judicial Conduct Board? The JCB gave no less than 5 reasons as to why they did not act on the Conahan Complaint as they are “REQUIRED” to do by their own rules. All 5 explanations turned out to be misstatements of facts. There was a time when we called misstatements of facts “lies”.
The fact of the matter was during the timeframe in question, the JCB was very, very busy removing a Judge from office that was be... Continue reading ...
US Attorney Peter Smith knew exactly what he was doing when he did not put a single piece of evidence into the trial of Ciavarella that created any official record of "Kids for Cash". Tax Evasion, Racketeering, and Conspiracy YES. Kids for Cash"......NO! I for one don't buy Smith’s explanation as to why he did what he did or in this case, what he didn’t do.
What a pitiful charade. Most people in Luzerne County know that if the Pennsylvania Judicial Conduct Board did its job as required by its own rules Conahan and Ciavarella would have been stopped in their tracks 3 years and thousands of children before the FBI finally came into town and arrested the two judges.
I want to hear US Attorney Peter Smith tell us what a great victory it is after Ciavarella reverses 8 of his 12 guilty charges on appeal. His own office will be the direct reason for the reversal. The US Attorney who handled Mericle’s case stated in open court during Mericle’s plea that Mericle paid Ciavarella a finder’s fee and not a bribe. He further went on to say that a finder’s fee is totally legal. The very same US Attorney’s Office went on to convict Ciavarella of taking ... Continue reading ...
There isn’t much that shocks me when it comes to case fixing in Luzerne County or anywhere else in Pennsylvania for that matter but what has happened in the Mark Ciavarella trial defies any “legitimate” explanation. Here is what I said in my Judicial Corruption Blog before this trial began:
"It appears that even the FBI and US Attorney’s Office did not want to open this can of worms."
A public trial of this magnitude has huge ramifications. It has the potential to not only expose massiv... Continue reading ...
Ever wonder how and why corruption in Luzerne County could possibly have gotten as bad as it is? All you have to do is look at how corruption is dealt with once it has been exposed. The best and brightest U.S. Attorneys that the United States Government has to offer are botching the "kids for cash" Ciavarella case right before our very eyes. Seasoned, highly paid prosecutors have sat on their hands to the point that the Judge has objected to statements made instead of them. Now they have ... Continue reading ...
I hope everyone takes the time to read the actual court transcripts that are linked below. This type of conflict of interest occurs a lot more than this court, any court will ever admit. I am not just talking about taking bribes. I am talking about serious conflicts of interest between the judge and one of the participating parties that is intentionally and illegally hidden from view by the judge. Just imagine being in court for any reason, spending the money for competent representation and ... Continue reading ...
A FedEx box stuffed full of cash destined for Luzerne County Judges as bribes. It use to be plain white envelopes but since we stopped printing one thousand dollar bills it has now become necessary to use boxes for such transactions. When I think back at all of the far out and bizarre rulings that have come out of the Luzerne County Courthouse absolutely NOTHING surprises me. More money has been stolen in Luzerne County with a briefcase and a gavel than ever with a gun. It is not only the ar... Continue reading ...
It appears that even the FBI and US Attorney’s Office did not want to open this can of worms. Understaffing of both organizations is probably the reason. Both organizations appeared content with carving a few more notches in their proverbial briefcases and moving on. A public trial of this magnitude has huge ramifications. It has the potential to not only expose massive corruption that extends far beyond Luzerne County but more troubling massive cover up by sitting, “high profile” polit... Continue reading ...
There is a part of me that would love to make former Judge Ciavarella wear his Judge’s Robe while on trial. Without the robe he looks like Mr. Rogers. With the robe I would dare to say he would show the jury his true contempt for these proceedings. Kind of like a punk with a gun, without the gun he is just a punk. Without their robes, corrupt judges are nothing more.
We are about to see the real inner workings of the Luzerne County Courthouse on center stage, exposed to the world. Countless Luzerne County citizens have been screaming from the rooftops about the corruption of those who wear black robes and judge us for decades. I have personally done so for over 20 years. This is not the story of a single rogue judge who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. This is the story of an entire system of corruption that spreads all the way to Harrisburg. I... Continue reading ...
"State Rep. Phyllis Mundy, D-Kingston, has reintroduced legislation to allow the Juvenile Court Judges Commission to analyze court cases and trends in the system in response to the Luzerne County kids-for-cash scandal."
I believe this is not a Juvenile Justice problem at all. This problem existed and flourished in full view of the checks and balances that are in place to insure such things don't occur... Continue reading ...
Count me among those who used the terms, "Unbelievable, Shocking, and Disappointing.” Add to that list “Totally Predictable.” Many months ago I publicly predicted that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court would NEVER rule in favor of a new trial for Judge Lokuta. I also stated that their decision would have NOTHING to do with the facts of the case or the law of the land but rather more with their concerns surrounding a new trial and the exposure that the Judicial Conduct Board would then r... Continue reading ...
I just read a new blog about the "Kids for Cash" scandal on the website "Judicial Council Watcher". The link to the website is at the end of this blog.
As an author, I want to start off by telling you that your article was extremely well written, informative, and thought provoking. Good job!
I am a Luzerne County native and am in the process of writing a book about the, “Kids for Cash” scandal. In part, my Preface reads as follows:
Posted by Larry Hohol on Monday, January 10, 2011,
In :
Current News
In a new Scranton Times-Tribune interview Paul Kanjorski ADMITS that there is widespread corruption in his district. Imagine that!
I have a question. In the two plus decades that Mr. Kanjorski served as our Congressman, what did he do about this widespread corruption? At best, NOTHING. At worst, he participated in it. Why didn’t the best and brightest of Corporate America want to participate in the development of Water Jet Technology? The answer is because it had already been develope... Continue reading ...
Posted by Larry Hohol on Saturday, January 1, 2011,
In :
Current News
My comments about Judge Lokuta have stirred some impassioned reactions from readers of my newspaper article comments and my blog.
Let me make it clear. I am not a fan of Judge Lokuta. That being said, we know that a number of people who testified against Judge Lokuta were committing felonies at the same time they testified against her. We also know that the Chairman of the Judicial Conduct Board was business partners in TWO businesses with one of those admitted felons (Conahan) thus creatin... Continue reading ...
Posted by Larry Hohol on Sunday, December 12, 2010,
In :
Current News
Whether you love Judge Lokuta or you hate Judge Lokuta, what happened to her was a modern day lynching. I have no confidence that the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania will do the right thing here as they themselves are part of the problem. I believe the proceedings that removed her from the bench were tainted. No that's too politically correct. I believe that the proceedings that removed Judge Lokuta from the bench were fixed and fixed in a big, big way. I also believe that not only had Conahan ... Continue reading ...
In order to RESTORE faith in the Luzerne County Juvenile Justice System one would have to first assume that there was ever faith in the system to begin with. That my friends, is a huge assumption. As a vocal critic of the Luzerne County Judiciary for over 20 years I am here to tell you that the more I dug into the cesspool we call the Courthouse the more I came to realize that the system is corrupt all the way to Harrisburg. Mere exposure of this corruption does absolutely nothing to chang... Continue reading ...
This new Times-Leader newspaper article caught my attention! Can anyone out there imagine going to trial knowing that the judge and opposing counsel have a very close SPECIAL relationship? I am here to tell you that it happened ALL THE TIME in Luzerne County Court and the second anyone questioned these relationships they were pummeled. After I formally questioned such a relationship former President Judge Patrick Toole responded to me in writing and I quote, "how dare you question the inte... Continue reading ...
Everyone PLEASE Google the phrase “Kids for Cash”. It is a huge ongoing
scandal involving a privatized prison in Pennsylvania in which thousands
of children were illegally incarcerated over a period of about the last
5 years. Two State Judges have been arrested by the FBI for taking
bribes amounting to over 2.8 million dollars from the prison developers
and the prison operators. The entire safety net system up to and
including the Supreme Court of PA failed to halt these incarcerati... Continue reading ...
