Kids-for-Cash Judge Who Took Kickbacks To Wrongly Imprison Minors Among Those Benefited By Biden's Commutations

Controversies are surfacing over some of those benefited by President Joe Biden's decision to conduct the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history.

There is the case of Rita Crundwell, a former public official convicted of embezzling over $50 million from Dixon, Illinois. Another beneficiary who is making headlines is Michael Conahan, a former judge found guilty of taking kickbacks from for-profit detention centers in exchange for sentencing minors who were not guilty of the accusations against them.

Conahan is among the almost 1,500 people who had their sentences commuted. All those impacted by it were released from prison and placed under home confinement during the Covid-19 pandemic. Another 39 who had been convicted of nonviolent crimes were pardoned as well.

Conahan is part of the former group. He pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy charges and was sentenced to 17 years and six months in prison in 2011. He was released to home confinement in Florida in June 2020 after pleading for "compassionate release" during the pandemic, saying he was in "grave danger of not only contracting the virus, but of dying from the virus."

"America was built on the promise of possibility and second chances. As President, I have the great privilege of extending mercy to people who have demonstrated remorse and rehabilitation, restoring opportunity for Americans to participate in daily life and contribute to their communities," Biden said in a statement when announcing the clemency.

Conahan was convicted along with another judge, Mark Ciavarella Jr., for taking money from former Drums attorney Robert Powell, who paid them to send juvenile defendants to two for-profit detention centers he partially owned. Ciavarella is serving a 28-year prison sentence in Kentucky on honest services mail fraud charges.

Sandy Fonzo, who confronted Ciavarella outside a federal court after her son committed suicide following time in one of the detention centers, said the news were "deeply painful."

"Conahan's actions destroyed families, including mine, and my son's death is a tragic reminder of the consequences of his abuse of power. This pardon feels like an injustice for all of us who still suffer. Right now I am processing and doing the best I can to cope with the pain that this has brought back," she said in a sentence obtained by The Citizen's Voice.