Fed Ed Case - Here Comes the Judge (Updated)

Late last week, Judge Juan R. Sánchez issued a number of one-line orders, scheduling new sentencing dates for five of the lucky 13 ensnared by a federal investigation into political corruption in Allentown. The main target of this investigation, former Allentown Mayor Edwin Pawlowski, has a date with Judge Sánchez on Wednesday, June 27, 11 am, at the Edward N. Cahn U.S. Courthouse in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Attorney Scott Allinson will be sentenced two days later on June 29 at 10 am, also in Allentown. I doubt Allinson will receive a heavy sentence. He's losing his law license. But I have two words of advice for Fed Ed. Rubber underwear.

What about the rest of the defendants?

Patrick Regan of The Efficiency Network has already been sentenced to two years probation, including six months of house arrest.

Consultant Jim Hickey, Northampton County's erstwhile Administrator, has been sentenced to 18 months. He gave a $500 bribe (campaign contribution) for a record that was already public and subject to Right-to-Know. He'll be spending a little over a day in the can for each dollar. To put this in context, Pawlowski had hoped that Jack Rosen, a major Democratic donor, would raise $1 million for his Senate race. Rosen was never prosecuted even though he was the beneficiary of a no-bid cyber-security contract that the City never needed. But Rosen has money. Hickey does not. Hickey is waiting to report while feds weld a Hannibal Lector mask for his mouth. That's what caused most of his problems.

Former Assistant City Solicitor Dale Wiles, who is redeeming himself by selling L-Arginine pills for those among us suffering from erectile dysfunction, is scheduled to be sentenced on September 14, 2 pm.

Four more defendants will be sentenced in early October.

- Mary Ellen Koval, Allentown's erstwhile Controller, faces the music on Tuesday, October 2 at 2 pm.

- Mark Neisser will be sentenced Wednesday, October 3, at 10 am.

- Miked Fleck, back in Easton, has a rendezvous with his destiny on Wednesday, October 3, at 2 pm.

- Matthew McTish, October 4, at 10 am.

I suspect the remaining three defendants will be sentenced at that time as well. They include entrepreneur Ramzi Haddad, meatball gourmand and former city finance director Garret Strathearn, and former managing director Francis Dougherty.

Blogger's Note: He will deny this, but as you may have guessed, Jim Hickey and I are friends It did not start out that way. He was the NorCo Director of Administration when I was part of a group that challenged a $110 million bond. We won, too, but it was a phyrric victory because the County ultimately responded with a $111 million bond. During the course of the litigation, we were arch enemies. Things got nasty, too. But after it was all over, Hickey stopped trying to kill me, although he threw me off the courthouse roof now and then for shits and giggles.

During his days at the county, I recall an incident in which a Deputy Sheriff who kept failing the sergeant's exam furtively slipped him a $500 bribe. Hickey reported the matter. A decision was made not to prosecute the guy, who came from a culture in which this sort of thing happened. But he was fired. If Jim were dirty, he would have kept the $500.

During the years I've known Jim, he has always been honest with me, even when it was to his detriment. But he has a colorful way of putting things, and that is what did him in. I personally believe he never bribed anyone, and in fact had given the $500 contribution before asking for a document that was subject to right-to-know. But Jim has always liked to sound like a badass. So I think a jury would have convicted him. He had a good attorney, but the feds knew this and had filed a motion to disqualify him.  So I understand his plea.

4 pm Update: In the original version of this story, I neglected for some reason to include the sentencing date of Matthew McTish.