Posted: Wednesday, 03 February 2010 11:19AM
Vote Pizzella For Cell Block President
Steve Corbett Reporting
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Looking at big time in the can, Wilkes-Barre Area School Board President Frank Pizzella Jr. faces 10 years in federal prison.
If I were the judge, I give him 11. On second thought, I’d give him 12.
Throwing the book at Pizzella is the only way for federal law enforcement officials to make the point that they’re playing for keeps in the ongoing public corruption probe that already has netted 23 defendants, most of whom have pleaded guilty.
Pizzella, 65, is a long-time thug who ran amok for decades without ever doing jail time.
After too many run-ins with the law, Pizzella still convinced voters that he was the man in whom they should place faith, the man to guide their children through the halls of learning and toward a better future.
I marvel at Pizzella’s magic.
But he pulled it off so well that his school board colleagues elected him president in the midst of the federal investigation that, including him, has taken down two other board members.
Pizzella is the second board president to hit the skids. The other two pleaded guilty. But Pizzella held out, publicly laughing at questions and promising to prove his innocence in court.
The scam worked so well that his colleagues re-elected him president even after he was indicted.
What a guy.
Even now, school district superintendant Jeff Namey compliments Pizzella as a terrific board member who saved the district money. But what do you expect from Namey when it comes to judging character. His own father was a criminal who did time on house arrest after being convicted in federal court of being a union racketeer.
No wonder he has a soft spot in his heart for a punk like Pizzella.
In a way, though, I understand.
In hard coal country, some people are still impressed with a guy who in 1980 allegedly offered $250 to an associate to break the legs of a Plains Township commissioner.
Indeed, that kind of qualification is priceless.
In the end, cops dropped charges against Pizzella if he promised to never again seek employment as a township police officer.
The fact that he was a township police officer in the first place also is priceless.
But then we are talking about Luzerne County.
And let’s not forget the protection from abuse order that Pizzella’s then-wife filed against him in 1988, alleging physical abuse. Other Pizzella family chaos in which police got involved fill out Pizzella’s resume.
Still, Pizzella hustled, manipulated and stayed close to certain county officials. He snagged a job as the county weights and measures officer. He later signed on as a tipstaff for then-Judge Ann Lokuta. He sued the county and won a settlement.
Then Pizzella hit the big time. Elected to the school board in 2007 after losing a bid in 2003, Pizzella again appeared publicly as a well-respected man. Then one day he fell and came up smelling liker a bribe.
Officials accuse him of acting as a go-between in a teaching job scheme.
Not me, squawked Pizzella.
I’m an innocent man, squealed Pizzella.
Now he says he’s pleading guilty because the feds have threatened him with additional charges and he doesn’t want to put his family through any more turmoil.
Pizzella is all about turmoil. His whole life has been immersed in turmoil. Turmoil is his middle name.
Buy Pizzella says he’s a stand-up guy who will do the time. He might even get elected as president of the cell block. And when he gets out maybe he can get an even better job.
Maybe county commissioners will pay him to open up a half-way house for ex-con public officials.
Don’t laugh.
Pizzella knows the ropes.
He’s lassoed votes before.
He can lasso votes again.
This time, though, Pizzella had more than enough rope to hang himself.
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