The LuLac Edition #1628, June 8th, 2011
BOB & A.J. TRIAL DAY 3
Day 3 in the corruption trial of Bob Cordaro and A.J. Munchak centered on who was going to testify and who was not going to testify. First the testimony. Patrick (P.J.) McLaine, a former member of Moscow-based engineering firm Acker and Associates said that he has been promised immunity through a government agreement, He was questioned on the alleged monthly delivery of $10,000 or more to West Scranton funeral home director Al Hughes.
Hughes allegedly delivered the alleged big chunk of change, some $360,000 from 2005 to 2008 to Robert Cordaro, then a County Commissioner.
McLaine testified that he was told that Acker could lose important contracts in Lackawanna County if he did not make the payments. McLaine and Hughes met in private, and Hughes allegedly told him "If you would give me $10,000 a month for Bob (Cordaro), I'll make sure you keep your work" McLaine testified.
A few questions here, who made Hughes the middle man, what did he get out of it and will he (Hughes) be called?
After the lunch break, came the fireworks defense attorneys alluded to earlier in the morning. It was revealed that Charles “Chuckie” Costanzo, a boyhood chum of Cordaro’s will refuse to testify against his old bosses. Costanzo was the Lackawanna County workers' compensation administrator and is currently in jail serving time for stealing more than $600,000 from the county's worker's compensation fund while he was administrator. Feds allege he paid part of that money to Cordaro in the form of cash and gifts.Costanzo’s decision was deemed irrevocable. If called, representatives for Costanzo say he will not talk in effect taking the fifth. Another question here, did the feds not know this or is this a surprise akin to the movie Godfather 1 where all of a sudden a key witness against Michael Corleone suddenly has amnesia? News of the Costanzo development comes from the Citizen’s Voice and times Leader.
Testimony closed out on Wednesday with Funeral Director Al Hughes. His testimony appeared to be good news for A.J. Munchak because he testified that only Cordaro was involved in the pay offs. A few recordings were played between Hughes and Cordaro as prosecutors tried to paint the Commission Chairman as growing increasingly paranoid about his talks with Hughes.
As Bob Cordaro sat in court in his light weight tropical summer suit, I thought perhaps he already an inkling on how hot things were going to get, not only on the outside but on the inside of the Federal building in Scranton.
Testimony resumes tomorrow morning at the Federal Courtnouse in Scranton.
posted by David Yonki @ 9:41 PM
1 comments
1 Comments:
I believe you meant to say that Mr. Cain was CEO of Godfather's pizza. I never understood how anyone could confuse a great movie such as the Godfather with tripe like Goodfellas, but I digress, class.
I agree that Mr. Cain is articulate and intelligent and quite an interesting individual. BUt we must understand, that there are far better candidates in the Republican field than he. See, class, even an old conservative fogie like myself can say something deragatory of the GOP. But enough laughs;
As it stands now, Mr. Romney will be the GOP nominee for several reasons. He is far more seasoned in business than any other candidate and has made a career of downsizing corporations of slacker employees. If the federal government workforce needs a real shot in the arm it is Mitt Romney. He will most certainly get rid of the dead weight. What he accomplishes after his first year in office will be the equivelant of a 500 pound man going down to a lean/mean 165 pounds.
Most people in the real world, class (and this does not apply to most of you) see the sense of cutting silly programs and benefits that only entail to permeate generations of slackers. The time has come to pay the bill and get on our feet.
Students, don't complain about not being able to get a job; settle for minimum wage for awhile. If corporate America thinks you're worthy, you will be hired.
Class dismissed!!!!
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