Thursday, December 8, 2011

COMPROMISED

Here at CasablancaPa, we always found it odd that gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett allowed Kevin Sidella, his chief witness against Bill DeWeese, (Post-Gazette 6/28/11) to take cash payments for campaign work from DeWeese.  These payments lasted almost up to the very day of DeWeese's arrest. You can see all the payments to the WS Group, Sidella's company, here.

Just like clockwork, every month, Sidella received a payment equal to his old salary as a taxpayer-funded caucus employee whose primary responsibility was political fundraising for DeWeese. (Grand jury presentment)

After DeWeese's arrest, it appears the payments stopped - as well they should have, considering how unseemly and problematic it might be for the Commonwealth's star witness still to be so intimately involved with DeWeese's raison d' etre -- re-election to the state house.

Except, Sidella and the WS Group didn't stop working for DeWeese after Corbett's indictment in December of 2009.

A young gentleman named Kevin Warner worked for Sidella at the WS Group from December 2008 to September 2010.  You can see Warner's resume on his LinkedIn profile here.

While in Sidella's employ, Warner was reimbursed nearly $4000 by DeWeese for consulting and campaign expenses AFTER DeWeese was arrested by Corbett.  Check out the reimbursements here.

Did Corbett and his investigators know Sidella's company kept working for DeWeese after his arrest?  Does current AG Linda Kelly?  What does it mean for Sidella's testimony in next month's trial?  Will Sidella be tempted to downplay DeWeese's crimes in hopes that DeWeese will be acquitted and the gravy train can keep on rolling? It appears Sidella already has succumbed to the temptation: while witnesses testified to the grand jury that Sidella's job was 100 percent campaign work for DeWeese, Sidella's own testimony at DeWeese's preliminary hearing downplayed it to a more modest "more than 40 percent" - at times.

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

Old News growing ancient every day except in the Dream Land of CasablancaPA from SCI Somerset.

There is no gravy train; there is no change in testimony that will be revealed in totality under oath.

AG Kelly should review the entire charges against Bill DeWeese and drop them as she did against Zimmerman.

DeWeese has good grounds to have them dismissed since much Exculpatory Evidence has been ignored by what we know now to be flawed Investigators at the OAG.

Now as the OAG is under the National Press eye of the storm media, there is no question Bill DeWeese did the right thing all along.

Anonymous said...

Is this what DeWeese gets for paying WS for consulting? Anonymous comments in defense of DeWeese on CasablancaPA?

Anonymous said...

When is trial scheduled?

Anonymous said...

Gov. Tom Corbett's team defends handling of Jerry Sandusky case, campaign contributions from Second Mile board members

Posted: 12/10/2011
12:00 AM
BY SARA GANIM AND JAN MURPHY,
The Patriot-News

When then-Attorney General Tom Corbett was running for governor last year, he refused any campaign contribution that had a state lawmaker’s name attached.

He did so to avoid any appearance of impropriety or conflict arising out of his office’s very public investigation into state lawmakers’ illegal use of taxpayer resources for political campaigns that The Patriot-News brought to light in early 2007. That probe has produced 19 convictions or guilty pleas of the 22 cases that have been decided so far.

Corbett didn’t extend that same firewall to a quieter investigation his office was conducting into child sexual assault allegations against former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.

Corbett accepted more than $25,000 from state board members of Sandusky’s charity, The Second Mile, during his gubernatorial campaign last year. On top of that, he accepted about thousands more from the charity’s regional board members, according to Pennsylvania Department of State campaign contributions website.

His openness to the charity’s board members’ contributions to his campaign didn’t stop there. Corbett also allowed S&A Homes president and CEO Robert Poole, who chaired Second Mile’s board, to hold a small fundraiser for him at Poole’s home in January 2010.

By that time, Corbett had a grand jury impaneled for nearly a year to look into the Sandusky allegations that developed into charges that the former coach sexually assaulted 10 boys. Sandusky, who faces a preliminary hearing on Tuesday, maintains his innocence.

Poole, who said he has been an active fundraiser for GOP candidates for years, denied in an email that the Sandusky investigation had anything to do with his decision to hold the event to support Corbett.

“I held the fundraiser because I’m an active Republican, and I thought Corbett was the best candidate for the office. That is the only reason,” Poole said.

Corbett’s press secretary, Kevin Harley, dismisses any suggestion of impropriety regarding the fundraiser Poole held for Corbett. He said Poole held the event as a private citizen, not as chairman of The Second Mile board.

Poole said he knew Corbett through mutual friends and through his political involvement. Harley offered a similar description of the relationship.

“The governor knows who Bob Poole is.

He has held fundraisers for other public officials and believes in Gov. Corbett’s philosophy of government.”

Furthermore, Harley said, “Nobody was aware, other than the governor and people in the attorney general’s office, of the investigation.”

Poole, however, said he did know about it.

In his email, Pool said that “to the best of my recollection, I first learned in 2008 or 2009 that authorities were investigating Mr. Sandusky.”

An earlier statement from the state confirmed that Sandusky volunteered to tell Second Mile officials about the investigation in November 2008.

More below.....

Anonymous said...

More from above.....

Harley said that the investigation at the time of the fundraiser was focused on Sandusky, but not on how he was allegedly using The Second Mile to find his victims.

When The Second Mile’s involvement became apparent, Harley said it was too late for Corbett to return the campaign contributions from those on the charity’s board.

“He wasn’t going to say, ‘Listen, I’m going to take money from other people, but not people from Second Mile.’ That certainly would have raised an alarm that there was an investigation,” he said.

Still, the intermingling of the investigation into the Sandusky case and Corbett’s gubernatorial bid have raised questions about his handling of the case.

That became apparent in a Quinnipiac University Poll released Friday that showed a split in the approval rating of how he managed this high-profile case, with 38 percent approving and 36 percent disapproving.

Just as they did during the legislative corruption investigation, people are accusing Corbett of dragging his feet on the Sandusky case for political purposes.

At that point in the case, only one investigator — a state police trooper — was handling the case, and it only involved one accuser, the now-18-year-old man from Clinton County known in court records as Victim One.

It wasn’t until January when Frank Noonan took over as state police commissioner that seven more investigators from the state police and attorney general’s office were added to the case.

Noonan, among others, defends Corbett’s handling of the case.

“I can say that I was intimately involved in every decision that was made in this case, and nothing could be further from the truth. Gov. Corbett gave us everything we needed to do the investigation and was anxious for it to be concluded as quickly as possible, and I know that because I was involved with it and with him the entire time,” Noonan said.

He pointed out that having one investigator assigned to a case is not unusual.

“Every case that comes into the attorney general’s office or to the state police is assigned to one trooper or one agent. That doesn’t mean there’s only one person working on the case,” Noonan said. “As the investigation goes forward and you need more people, then more people are assigned to it.”

Corbett attributed the length of the Sandusky investigation to tactical decisions made by professional prosecutors. He told the crowd at the Pennsylvania Press Club luncheon last month, “the one thing you do not want to do as a prosecutor is go on one case. You want to show a continued course of action.

More Below...

Anonymous said...

Rest below from above......

He said if you file a first set of charges early and lose that case, “it would be much more difficult to bring charges in other cases because it would be seen by you, by the public, as vindictive.

Besides that, Harley, his spokesman, said there’s no winning an argument about the pace of the investigation. If he would have sped it up, Corbett would have been criticized for doing it for political purposes. If he slowed it down, he would have been accused of the same thing.

It’s clear the attorney general’s investigation did not heat up until late 2010.

That’s when a 1998 report of similar conduct by Sandusky was discovered. It’s also when investigators learned assistant coach Mike McQueary had witnessed something in the Penn State locker room showers in 2002.

The seven additional victims outlined in the initial grand jury report weren’t found until 2011. Joe Paterno and other Penn State officials — including the two who were eventually charged with perjury — didn’t testify until January 2011.

The Second Mile didn’t receive subpoenas until January 2011. One for their financial records wasn’t delivered until after Sandusky was charged Nov. 4. Sandusky’s home was searched in the summer of 2011. Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa of Allegheny County said thing could have been handled differently.

“In hindsight, it would make sense to move it to federal authorities to allow them to conduct what needed to be done in this case,” Costa said.

Walter Cohen, a Harrisburg lawyer who served as state attorney general, disagrees. He said it was appropriate for Corbett to accept the investigation when Centre County District Attorney Mike Madeira stated he had a conflict. Madeira’s brother-in-law is Sandusky’s adopted son.

Harley, Corbett’s spokesman, said people will say what they want about the investigation.

“The fact of the matter is there was a thorough investigation. It was placed before a statewide investigating grand jury that resulted in 40 charges initially against Jerry Sandusky with eight victims, now 10, and a very strong case, which Tom Corbett nor the attorney general’s office nor the state police are making any apologies for.”

Staff writer Charles Thompson contributed to this report.

LINK:
http://mobile.pennlive.com/advpenn/db_96886/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=UECYK4Uq&full=true#display

Anonymous said...

Is Governor Corbett Covering Up For His Casmpaign Contributors: This article sure proves the connections and cover up?

ARTICLE AT DEADSPIN.COM:

Second Mile Is … Penn State: School Paid $25 Million To Company Run By Chairman Of Sandusky’s Charity

Bob Poole is the chairman of The Second Mile board of directors (or, perhaps, former chairman—nobody really knows who's running things now).

He's held that position for 17 years. He was chairman, then, in 1998, when an attorney for both Second Mile and Penn State learned about an investigation into alleged sexual misconduct by Jerry Sandusky.

Poole is also the CEO of Poole Anderson Construction, a big State College outfit that was the fifth-highest-compensated independent contractor employed by Penn State in 2010.

PSU paid Poole's company $12,154,402 in the last fiscal year. In 2009, Poole's company got even more money: $12,936,843, according to the "Right to Know Reports" the school is required to file with the state. That's a total of $25,091,245.

The documents don't specify which projects Poole Anderson worked on, but I found information about the company's recent Penn State-related construction jobs on its website. It's quite a list:

Go To LINK To Read Listing:

http://deadspin.com/5860893/second-mile-is--penn-state-school-paid-25-million-to-company-run-by-chairman-of-sanduskys-charity

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Poole Anderson is also the construction manager for the $11.5 million "Center for Excellence," a Second Mile project that had long been a dream of Sandusky's.

The learning center, which was to be financed in part by a $3 million state grant approved by Gov. Tom Corbett, was supposed to have classrooms, dorms, athletic facilities, and an auditorium. The state grant is now on hold.

We mentioned Poole on this site two days ago after state Rep. Mike Vereb released documents showing that Poole had raised money for Leslie Dutchtot, the district judge and Second Mile volunteer who let Sandusky out of jail on unsecured $100,000 bail. (Dutchtot has since been taken off the case.)

This Sandusky scandal looks more incestuous and more political by the day.

The Second Mile is so embedded in the Penn State community that we might as well start thinking of the charity as an extension of the university.

Everyone knows everyone else.

They sit on the same boards.

They give each other jobs.

They donate money to the same politicians, including the attorney general who investigated the case while running for governor.

I'm not saying these people were in on a cover-up.

All I'm saying is that—given these connections and given the gravitational pull of the university across the state—a lot of people had a lot of incentive to do nothing whatsoever.

BELOW:

Anonymous said...

ABOVE...

Back to Poole. He's one of the bigwigs at The Second Mile and one of the biggest recipients of Penn State's largesse.

As you might imagine, he's also one of Penn State's biggest benefactors. Here's his bio from PSU's Smeal College of Business:

He was named a Penn State Alumni Fellow in 2001 and received the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2006.

He and his wife, Sandy, have funded the following endowments:

The Robert and Sandra Poole Endowment for Excellence in Real Estate Studies,

The Robert and Sandra Poole Schreyer Honors College Scholarship,

The Robert and Sandra Poole Graduate Assistantship in the Libraries, and the Robert and Sandra Poole Faculty Fellowship in Business.

Bob and Sandy also funded the Dean's Suite at the new Smeal College of Business Building. Bob is a member of the Mount Nittany Society.

Mr. Poole is on the Executive Committee and Chairs the Leadership Gifts Program "For the Future Campaign" at Penn State.

He also Chairs the Schreyer Honors College and is on the Board of Visitors for the Smeal College of Business at Penn State.

He previously served on the Steering and Executive Committees of The Penn State Grand Destiny Campaign. Bob received his MBA from Farleigh Dickinson University.

Corbett has some explaining to do, first the investigation had to be secerte, then one trooper slowed it down, noe many knew way back in 2008 and 2009, but Corbett statements are no longer consistent?

http://deadspin.com/5860893/second-mile-is--penn-state-school-paid-25-million-to-company-run-by-chairman-of-sanduskys-charity

Anonymous said...

Corbett held a fundraiser at Bob Poole's house, Robert Poole is president and CEO of Poole Anderson Construction, hence his motive for shifting blame to PSU.

Most folks never see it because they are not in a position to donate big bucks like some of these folks. I hope that it comes out just what Corbett has done and how guilty he is in the cover-up.

While I firmly believe the release of the Grand Jury info was planned rather than an accident, there is really nothing here when Corbett's Press boy Harley distorts Corbett's participation in his election year cover up.

By-the-by, the Patriot-News is failing to connect all the dots here.

It is quite clear given the timeline of the investigation that there was a "cover up", but it was not a cover-up at PSU - that is part of the "red herring" created by Corbett.

The "cover up" occurred at The Second Mile, not PSU, and the AG at the time (i.e. March 2009) was complicit - keep in mind, the Attorney General's Office governs & regulates charities & non-profit organizations in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Give the circumstances of the 2008 allegations the AG received in March 2009 including how Sandusky met both the victim and the CMHS co-principal who invited him into the school, how precisely does it make sense that the AG would not go immediately to The Second Mile and ask about any and all complaints re:

Child abuse related to Sandusky that the charity had received?

Answer is that it doesn't.

Does it make sense that the AG's Office had nothing on this case until they generated the MM lead in late-2010 despite the fact that PSU had ZERO to do with the 2008 allegations that the AG was supposedly investigating?

So what exactly was the AG's Office investigating from March 2009 until late-2010????

The AG and his crack investigators never thought to go ask The Second Mile questions and review their files despite the VICTIM and co-principal stating that was the connection to Sandusky?

Odd is it not, or intentional delays to protect Corbett Campaign Donators?

Hard to see how that could be qualified as a "thorough" investigation!!

Nope, the "cover up" occurred at The Second Mile starting in 2009 - the deflection to PSU, shifting the focus of the investigation there and the suggestion by the AG's Office that the problem lies at PSU is nothing but a part of the ongoing "cover up" by Corbett and his influential 2nd Mile cronies.

This is where US Attorneys should start their investigation into Corbett complicity and cover ups that will lead to Corbett purposeful mismanagement of PAOAG resources until after his election.

Why the Patriot News protects Corbett and not pursuing Corbett is strange right now. At least call for Federal Investigation.


Have you noticed...when the upper crust politicos names popped out...the story cooled off long enough for them to get their story right...NOW they are out and ready to do battle. They are as guilty as everybody else. Follow the money and demand answers....For example, I see a "red Herring" that has caught Corbett in a trap now.

The November 2011 subpoena for 2nd Mile files and records were never needed.

Corbett and the AG's Office NEVER needed a subpoena to raid The Second Mile's offices - charity's are governed & regulated by the AG's Office in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Anonymous said...

Have you noticed...when the upper crust Pennsylvania politicos names popped out...

Tthe story cooled off long enough for them to get their story right...

NOW they are out and ready to do battle.

They are as guilty as everybody else.

Follow the money and demand answers and ab Independent Prosecutors Investigation....

For example, I see a "Red Herring" that has caught Corbett in a trap now.

The November 2011 subpoena for 2nd Mile files and records were never needed.

Corbett and the AG's Office NEVER needed a subpoena to raid The Second Mile's offices - charity's are governed & regulated by the AG's Office in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Looks like Poole and his intimate connection to Corbett and The Second Mile project that was going to be built by his construction firm using public funds including the $3million State Grant that Corbett personally approved in June 2011 (including a warm personal letter to the Second Mile after approval).

Now we are seeing it is quite obvious where the "cover up" occurred and why - just follow the $$$Corbett Campaign Money $$$ trail.

Corbett is starting to look like Nixon with every statement in his defense just more questions come up with wrongdoing that he refuses to answer.

Anonymous said...

More Revealations That Show Corbett Cover Up:

Sandusky's project was supervised by Second Mile leader

Board chair's firm was chosen for task

Thursday, November 17, 2011
By Jon Schmitz, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A company headed by the board chairman of The Second Mile, the nonprofit at the center of the Penn State University sex abuse scandal, served as construction manager on the organization's $11.5 million learning center project.

Robert Poole is president and CEO of Poole Anderson Construction, based in State College. He also has served as The Second Mile's board chairman for 17 years.

Mr. Poole's role in the selection of his company as manager for the publicly funded project was not clear Wednesday. Neither he nor vice chairman David Woodle, who is directing the day-to-day operations of The Second Mile, returned repeated calls seeking comment.

According to the organization's bylaws, the board can authorize contracts and the chairman is empowered to sign them, along with the "secretary or any other proper officer."

The learning center was to be funded in part with a $3 million state grant approved by Gov. Tom Corbett in July.

But the grant is now on hold and the project in jeopardy, part of the fallout from the child molestation case against Jerry Sandusky, the charity's founder and a former Penn State assistant football coach.

Before leaving The Second Mile under a cloud of suspicion in 2010, Mr. Sandusky had long championed the development of what he called the "Center for Excellence," which would have classrooms, athletic facilities, an auditorium and dormitories.

In The Second Mile's annual report for 2008, Mr. Sandusky wrote that "we have moved closer to realizing this dream." The first phase was to be an outdoor recreational complex and an education and recreation building.

It was to be built on a 60-acre site in Patton Township, about 41 acres of which was purchased by The Second Mile from Penn State for $168,500 in 2002. A design was completed by State College architect M. John Lew, and a rendering was posted on his company's website.

As recently as Oct. 25, the "Second Mile Center for Excellence" also was depicted on Poole Anderson's website in the "current work" section.

The posting, since removed from the site, said the project "will have six phases and extend over 25-30 years. This first phase will include a 48,000-square-foot learning center and surrounding athletic fields."

......more below.....

Anonymous said...

In addition to the $3 million state grant, financing included $4.5 million in private donations and the estimated value of the 60-acre site - about $555,000 - which went toward the local match of the state grant. Another $3.5 million needed for the athletic fields and site work was outside of the scope of the application for state funding, said Susan Hooper, spokeswoman for the governor's budget office.

Mr. Lew said in a telephone interview that he won a competition to land the architectural contract and answered to Poole Anderson during the design work. He said he was not certain how Poole Anderson was chosen as construction manager.

The project has been upended by the 40-count grand jury presentment that accused Mr. Sandusky of sexually abusing eight boys from 1996 to 2005.

The Second Mile's longtime president and CEO, Jack Raykovitz, resigned on Monday in the wake of disclosures that he knew about allegations of sexual misconduct against Mr. Sandusky at least back to 2002.

The agency did not order Mr. Sandusky to stay away from the children in its programs until six years later, when he told The Second Mile that he was under investigation for alleged abuse of a 15-year-old Clinton County boy.

The $3 million grant, under the state's Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, was budgeted by the Legislature last year and the funding was released by departing Gov. Ed Rendell. But no contract was signed before Mr. Corbett took office in January, and he ordered a review of it and other pending grants.

"The Office of the Budget has completed its review of The Second Mile Learning Center project and I am pleased to inform you that Governor Corbett has approved the Commonwealth's commitment of $3,000,000 in RACP funding for this project," budget secretary Charles B. Zogby wrote in a July 20 letter to Mr. Raykovitz.

On Tuesday, a governor's spokesman said the grant was suspended for further review.

Mr. Corbett as attorney general supervised the investigation that began in 2008 when the Clinton County teen came forward with complaints that Mr. Sandusky had sexually abused him.

In remarks in Philadelphia Wednesday, Mr. Corbett said he approved the grant this summer in part because he feared withholding it might compromise the investigation.

On Monday, Centre County commissioners notified The Second Mile that they were withdrawing from the project. The county had planned to serve as administrator of the state grant.

"The County no longer supports or is willing to participate in this project," solicitor Louis T. Glantz said in a letter to the organization.

The Centre Daily Times, in a Wednesday report on the 2002 land deal between Penn State and The Second Mile, said the $168,500 price was less than what deed records showed the university paid for the land ($183,970) in 1999. It also was only about half of what the parcel sold for in 1990.

The newspaper said the land sale was another example of the close relationship between Penn State and Mr. Sandusky's charity.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11321/1190582-455-0.stm#ixzz1g8hlVF8o

Anonymous said...

Here are six interesting quotes of the Jerry Sandusky’s case that beg the question

“Where was then Attorney General Tom Corbett when these allegation of child molestations were first reported to local authorities in Centre County?”

Walter Cohen, a Harrisburg lawyer who served as state attorney general said “it was appropriate for Corbett to accept the investigation when Centre County District Attorney Mike Madeira stated he had a conflict. Madeira’s brother-in-law is Sandusky’s adopted son“ (Ganim & Murphy, 2011).

Several potential “victims contacted State College lawyer Andy Shubin to tell their stories, with one claiming Sandusky had abused him in the 1970s” (Ganim, 2011).

The Second Mile, “a children's charity Sandusky founded in State College, Pennsylvania in 1977” (Lantz, 2007).

"Why won’t the 1998 police report that detailed a six-week investigation into Sandusky showering with two boys be released?" (Ganim, 2011).

The attorney for Victim Six -- "the now-24-year-old who reported indecent contact with Jerry Sandusky in 1998 when no charges were filed -- says police knew beforehand that he was invited to dine with Sandusky and his wife last summer (2011) and reported the experience back to authorities" (Ganim, 2011).

Jerry Sandusky “told his board in 2008 he was being investigated. The charity says it subsequently barred him from activities involving children. He denies molesting boys“ (AP, 2011).

As this story continues to unravel; I surmise that next year the political climate in Pennsylvania will change dramatically. From an empirical observation, I will predict at least one suicide, and maybe a murder, or an attempted murder. I see a former district attorney miraculously resurrected. I see several state legislators from the Happy Valley area of the state either resigning, or retiring from their respected districts.

And the biggest breaking news story for 2012 will be the current sitting governor will be impeached!

This circle jerk of Sandusky, McQueary, Curely, Schultz, Spanier, and Paterno will reveal the true GOP hold of Happy Valley for the last five decades. This story will top all stories since this country was founded. The book will be on Times best seller list for at least two years, and the movie will stay in theaters for at least six months!

The American spectators will ensue this chronicle like no other story!

References

AP (2011, December 1). Attorneys settle with the second mile in penn state child sex abuse case. Retrieved from The Patriot-News Web site http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/12/attorneys_settle_with_the_seco.html

Ganim, S. (2011, December 6). Penn State University shows no sign of lifting veil of secrecy. Retrieved from The Patriot- News Web site http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/12/penn_state_university_shows_no.html

Ganim, S. (2011, December 2) Alleged victim's dinner with Jerry Sandusky was OK'd by police, attorney says. Retrieved from The Patriot-News Web site
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/12/attorney_for_victim_six_says_d.html

Ganim (November 17, 2011). "Exclusive: Jerry Sandusky interview prompts long-ago victims to contact lawyer". The Patriot-News. Retrieved November 21, 2011.

Lentz, Charlie (March 27, 2007). "Sandusky Second to None". pennstate.scout.com. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011.

Ganim, S. & Murphy, J. (2011, December 10). Gov. Tom Corbett’s team defends handling of Jerry Sandusky case, campaign contributions from second mile board members. Retrieved Patriot-News Web site
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/12/gov_tom_corbetts_team_defends.html

Anonymous said...

Anyone remember at the height of the media frenzy from the Penn State scandal, our "honorable" governor held a nationally televised press conferences.

Where, aside from looking like a total moron for having a press conference with nothing to say, he used that as a forum for condemning anyone involved in any way shape or form.

As time goes on, we are finding out that Corbett knew much more than he was willing to reveal about the case.

We are finding out, that much like Marcellus Shale and school vouchers, he has found a way to help "friends", regardless of their morality issues.

Sadly, we have a governor that is far more concerned with the interests of himself and some rich friends as opposed to the interests of the whole of the commonwealth.

Anonymous said...

"An expert on nonprofit governance said that in retrospect there were some questionable aspects to the basic structure of The Second Mile"

That's because Second Mile was designed from the beginning to give Sandusky access to vulnerable kids so he could take advantage of them. The rest was window dressing, camouflage and money.

Corbett took Campaign Contributions from Second Mile but allowed it to operate at the same time, even though Experts said it was highly questionable?

Corbett also signed a letter giving them $3 million in June, even knowing in 2009 they were under investigation. so much for this AG and Governor lacking a Light Bulb in his brain?

Anonymous said...

"When The Second Mile’s involvement became apparent, Harley said it was too late for Corbett to return the campaign contributions from those on the charity’s board."

Corbertt really, really wishes he could have done more (returned that money) but he did not.

Corbett is a politician and if his lips are moving, he is lying.

I too smell a very large rat in the governor's mansion.

And his little rat friend, Noonan, the State Police Commissioner was tasked by the big rat governor to editorialize at the press conference in regard to the grand jury findings by saying that Joe Paterno had done what he had to do legally, but didn't do enough morally.

That was the first move by the governor to "set-up" Joe to be the fall guy -- he pulled it off when he got the rancid PSU Trustees to fire Joe at 10:00 PM at night without all of the facts being known and in the dark of night -- when all rats scurry around doing their dirty work.

Anonymous said...

Without consideration of the insider political issues, Corbett's argument is for:

First priority: assure success of the legal process using limited resources
Second priority: get a child molester off the streets

Corbett could have put the probability of a conviction at risk, but exposed Sandusky three years earlier as a child molester.

What was Paterno supposed to have done based on what he was told, and by the way, exactly what was he told? Sounds like a three year investigation of what Paterno knew is in order, instead of the 15 minutes, after Corbett addressed the BOT, it took the BOT to decide to fire him.

Corbett knew what was coming at Penn State. He knew when it would hit Penn State. He planned ahead to set Paterno up as the center of attention to draw all the fire.

Without provisions for recall, Pennsylvania has about three more years of Corbett.

That's just enough time to investigate him before the next election.

Good luck to Pennsylvania.

Anonymous said...

Balgoyovich went to jail for saying he had something golden and was gonna get something for it... When are the Feds gonna come in here and look at the most corrupt state in America?

A child molester is not much different then a serial killer.

Letting an investigation stew for as long is this for such serious charges is disgraceful.

To think that our governor was campaigning in homes of 2nd mile board members while JS was still on the loose is just unbelievable. Corbett should feel ashamed of himself.

His ability to lead this state is in serious question.

JS should have been arrested immediately.

This is just another sad turn of events.

Having knowledge of a complaining witness in 2008, what steps, if any, were taken to protect children from Sandusky prior to the filing of charges.

The media has failed to focus on that singular question by which their performance has to be measured.

Even if we accept their explanation as to why an arrest could not be made and a prosecution could not be undertaken at that time, surely they could have taken some measures to ensure that Sandusky was not preying on victims.

I await Ganim's reporting on that issue - to date she has been the governor's lap dog on this aspect of the case.

She has failed to follow up with critical questions to the self serving declarations of Corbett and Noonan.

So Sarah tell us - what did the governor do and when did he do it?

The Commonwealth needs a Second Investigation into Second Mile and Corbett.

Anonymous said...

Has Corbett ever said why the Child Predator unit he created wasn't involved in the investigation?

It wasn't involved because Corbett didn't want them to find what he knew existed.

In other words, even a rookie investigator would have immediately gone to The Second Mile in March 2009 and started digging around regarding Sandusky's history regarding sexual abuse complaints registered at the Charity.

This is an easy way to know who is telling the truth regarding the 2008 Allegations made - if there are zero complaints that had any substance going all the way back to the charities founding in 1977.

An investigator would know, for sure, that the kid was likely the one making things up.

If there were a history of complaints, especially a number with some "substance" to them regardless of how they were adjudicated, he would instantly know that he was dealing with a child predator using the charity has his hunting grounds.

Really, it is no different than the Michael Jackson case - eventually, due to the history, substance, pattern and number of allegations in the MJ affair, police realized that they were dealing with a child predator despite the fact that all of the prior cases were "handled" with private agreements and MJ had never been found criminally guilty in the past.

In any event, Corbett would not have wanted to blow the "cover up" which is why he likely kept this matter out of the hands of his Child Predator Unit back in the 2009 timeframe.

Anonymous said...

GREAT LINK:

http://www.saveardmorecoalition.org/node/4577/psssttom-corbett-over-here-im-blogger-too

Signor Ferrari said...

Bob, the trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 23 but we stand by our prediction that DeWeese will cop a plea in exchange for keeping his mouth shut about his 2007 deal with Corbett.

Anonymous said...

Signor Ferrari said...
Bob, the trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 23 but we stand by our prediction that DeWeese will cop a plea in exchange for keeping his mouth shut about his 2007 deal with Corbett. December 11, 2011 9:04 AM

AND if young are wrong like you were when you said DeWeese never went before a Grand Jury, will you man up and admit it, or just slither away, like you do when your facts are wrong and predictions are false and never put up a correction blog when it happens?

If you demand fairness as a right and I believe in all you, you must demand it for all at all times too.

It is my belief you will all be exonerated due to the actions of Bill DeWeese and Prosecutors’ Misconducts of AG/Governor Corbett and your little to puny convictions by Frank Fina will be vacated because you never committed crimes as Corbett used for Headlines to become elected.

DeWeese fight is your fight too, but you keep stabbing everyone in the back.

Signor Ferrari said...

If you can find a statement on this blog that warrants a correction, we won't hesitate to publish one.

Anonymous said...

Signor Ferrari said...
If you can find a statement on this blog that warrants a correction, we won't hesitate to publish one.
December 12, 2011 12:37 PM

Well, in all honesty you have access to every post you put up and comments far better than us.

There was a time when commented that Bill DeWeese never went before a Grand Jury.

I expect you to recall that time, and look for such comments, and will admit that was in error.

After all, in all honesty you are not the PAOAG that has done misdeeds, not lived up to their promises, and have outright lied about investigating the Republican Caucuses far more than anyone was charged and convicted within the prowling for power to elect Tom Corbett as Governor with Headlines created by their Prosecution Misconduct.

I know I can rely on your honesty to look that over, but that is up to you.