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Reputed Pa. mobster ordered to testify in newspaper case
TweetALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A reputed mob boss has been called to testify about accusations that he plotted with two judges to fix a defamation case against a northeastern Pennsylvania newspaper.
William D’Elia has been ordered to appear next week at a hearing in Allentown.
The state Supreme Court granted a review of the $3.5 million verdict against The Citizens’ Voice of Wilkes-Barre, citing questions about the role played by D’Elia and former Luzerne County Judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella.
The judges pleaded guilty earlier this year in a separate case involving juvenile defendants.
D’Elia’s lawyer says he’s considering how to respond to the order. D’Elia is serving nine years in prison on federal money-laundering and witness-tampering charges.
Comments
How could one defame a mobster?
Do you understand what defamation means, Stan?
The last I checked it was to attack the good name or reputation. What did he lose? The Newsweek man of the year award?
NEWSWEEK EXPOSE'
http://i41.tinypic.com/1059ksl.jpg
http://www.state.nj.us/casinos/exclus...
Since Russell Bufalino's death in 1994, and Edward Sciandra's "retirement" to Florida, William D'Elia would become the new boss of the crime family in Northeastern Pennsylvania. D'Elia, born in 1946, started his career in the Bufalino family in the late 1960s and 1970s as Russell Bufalino's driver.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bufalino...
http://www.citizensvoice.com/news/the...
Kevin C. Abbott, an attorney representing two parent companies of The Citizens’ Voice, The Scranton Times LP and The Times Partner, declined comment Thursday.
“I’m not going to comment on anything any witness is going to say,” Abbott said.
The Citizens’ Voice appealed Ciavarella’s verdict in state Superior Court, but asked the Supreme Court to intervene after Ciavarella and Conahan were charged with accepting kickbacks. The court named Lehigh County President Judge William H. Platt to conduct a hearing to determine if the newspaper is entitled to relief and possibly a new trial. Platt has scheduled the hearing for July 1 in Allentown.
The employee’s expected testimony would buttress a sworn statement given to the newspaper’s attorneys by Robert J. Kulick, an acquaintance of Conahan’s and D’Elia’s. Kulick alleges the three men met twice a month for seven years to discuss pending court cases. Kulick alleged D’Elia claimed he had been assured by Conahan of a “positive outcome” in the Joseph case.
D’Elia, the reputed head of the crime family formerly led by the late Russell Bufalino of Kingston, is serving nine years on federal money-laundering and witness-tampering charges and is cooperating with federal investigators. D’Elia, 62, has denied through his attorney that he had any involvement in the defamation suit filed by Joseph, a Mountain Top businessman. Joseph claimed he was defamed by the newspaper’s coverage of federal raids at his home and business and D’Elia’s home in 2001.
Yeah, that is true...defamation of a mobster's character is probably really hard to do considering they already are notorious...I'd give the newspaper an award for pulling that off.