Larry
Hohol is the author of the new book, "The Luzerne County Railroad". A
story about corruption in the American judicial system, the book will
shake you to your core. Each chapter will leave you amazed by the new
depth of brazen greed and corruption. If you think it couldn't get any
worse, the next chapter will prove you wrong.
If you care about freedom and equality in America, you must read this book!
Fireworks, fair queens, rodeos, concerts and good food are not the only reasons to visit the Luzerne County Fair this year - I'll be there! I will have a booth at the fair from Wednesday, September 7, 2011 until Sunday, September 11. I will be offering my book, The Luzerne County Railroad along with other very interesting items. More importantly, I hope to be visiting with all of my friends.
The great news doesn't end there! I have been invited for a return appearance at the Barnes and Noble Bookstore at Arena Hub. You may recall that my last book signing at the Barnes and Noble store was so successful that my book, The Luzerne County Railroadsold out in record time. Barnes and Noble has scheduled my second book signing on Sunday, September 11, 2011 at 1:00 PM at the Wilkes-Barre Arena Hub store.
Here is a special request for my friends: please plan to come by my booth at the Luzerne County Fair. Then plan to stop by the Barnes and Noble on Sunday afternoon. I'm looking forward to visiting with you!
Excellent, informative, well written article! This article clearly outlines the major flaws with both the prosecution and handling of this case. No one should believe that any of these problems were created by accident or mistake. The US Attorney in charge and the Judge in this case are two of the most experienced and seasoned veterans anyone could ever hope for. Conscious decisions were made every step of the way. I recently told a very wise man who mistakenly still believes in the system to watch what actually happens as an end result. I told him to focus on the final destination because everything else is just fluff for public consumption. I just e-mailed my friend and told him that the “Fat Lady” isn’t even in the building yet.
I am convinced that there is a cover up of the entire "Kids for Cash" scandal taking place before our very eyes. Think about it. The US Attorney's Office “shocked the world” when they rested their case against Ciavarella without presenting a single exhibit or witness to support the "kids for cash" charges in the indictment. NOTHING on the record, NOTHING! US Attorney Peter Smith then stated after the trial that 12 guilty verdicts out of 39 charges was a great victory and that Federal Court was not the appropriate venue to litigate the "Kids for Cash" issue. What? The FBI thought it was appropriate. The Grand Jury thought it was appropriate. Two of Mr. Smith’s predecessors thought it was appropriate. Mr. Smith appears to be the only one I know of that thought it wasn’t appropriate. If not Federal Court, where? It appears very simple. I believe that too many high profile officials were about to be pulled into the investigation. Ex-Judges Conahan and Ciavarella did not operate in a vacuum. The Judicial Conduct Board as well as the Pennsylvania Supreme Court knew most of what Conahan & Ciavarella were doing yet for some unknown and unexplained reasons they allowed what was happening to children in Luzerne County to continue. There could be a number of possible reasons for such a cover up. Averting a crisis of confidence in Pennsylvania Government and its Judiciary come to mind. Good old fashion political corruption is my guess.
Smoke and mirrors. Don’t look at what Judge Kosik says, look at what he does. The end result is the real, name of the game. Here is my prediction. Judge Kosik will sentence Ciavarella to a moderate to heavy jail sentence. That will make the general public, who doesn’t know how the game is played, very happy. Here is where it gets interesting. I predict that Judge Kosik will then assign the heaviest jail time to the charges that Ciavarella has on appeal and very little time to the charges that are not on appeal. Kosik WILL allow Ciavarella to remain free on bail pending his appeal, which will take years. Ciavarella will reverse at least half of the charges he has on appeal due directly to the statements made by the US Attorney’s Office at the Mericle hearing. Ciavarella will continue to appeal the charges he could not get reversed on his first appeal go around and remain free on bail. By the time Ciavarella is ordered to prison, he will most likely be in a wheelchair. God help us all and I hope I am totally wrong.
My interview by Sue Henry, host of "The Sue Henry Show" on
WILK-FM, 103.1 in Wilkes-Barre on June 16, 2011 as a part of the "Barnes
and Noble Author Event" was a very successful and enjoyable experience. The scheduled 20 minute appearance was
extended to two hours after the switchboard lit up solid with phone
calls from listeners. The call-in listeners were great! We had some very interesting and revealing conversations. The video is in six parts.
The proper thing would have been to offer new trials to all juveniles who requested one and let stand the convictions and guilty pleas of all who did not request a new trial. By doing so taxpayer money would NOT have been required for restitution. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court was in such a hurry to cover up the inexcusable activity of the Pennsylvania Judicial Conduct Board that justice or fairness never entered into the equation. It was all about making this nightmare (exposure) go away as quickly as possible while revealing as little as possible regarding the corruption of the JCB itself. The JCB has been used for decades as a tool to remove or control political enemies of the powerful elite. Not a single Pennsylvania Legislator or Law Enforcement Agency has demanded a Grand Jury Investigation of the JCB even though the JCB misspoke (LIED) at least 4 separate times as to why the Board in essence protected the “Kids for Cash” judges over a long period of time while prosecuting a judge who attempted to “blow the whistle” on the whole charade. The Chairman of the JCB at that time was also business partners with the ringleader “Kids for Cash” judge. A former member of the JCB by the name of Robert Surrick wrote a book which included great detail regarding the corruption of this board. As an insider he exposed the JCB’s monumental corruption and was hunted down by the powers that be so intensely that he eventually not only left the state but he left the country. I am convinced that NOTHING will change until the corruption of the JCB is exposed and corrected.
Donna Wench, Community Relations Manager for the Barnes & Noble Store located at the Arena Hub in Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania has announced that the new blockbuster book The Luzerne County Railroad has set a number of new sales records for her store. She added, "Author and former local Larry Hohol recently held an extremely successful book signing at our store. More than half of the stock ordered for the signing were sold before Mr. Hohol even arrived. Mr. Hohol began signing early due to the response and the remaining copies sold out in record time. We began a waiting list for replenishment stock, and asked the author to sign adhesive bookplates that readers could attach to their book upon receipt. I have reordered the book several times and still have a waiting list." She continued, "The record sales of the title show that this book, it's subject matter, and this author are very, very special.”
And the band plays on. Way back when Judge Kosik rejected Ex-Judge Conahan and Ciavarella’s plea deal there was dancing in the streets. At that time I publicly voiced my concerns. I said Judge Kosik wasn't doing anyone a favor except for Conahan and Ciavarella by rejecting their pleas. Once again I will voice my concerns and make a prediction or two. My concerns are “Justice Delayed is Justice Denied”. There is nothing anyone can now do about the extremely slow turning of the wheels of justice in this case. Let us not forget that Ciavarella has appealed seven of the charges that he has been found guilty of. In addition, I am still very concerned that the US Attorney’s Office intentionally did not offer a single shred of evidence to support Ciavarella’s imprisoning of children for cash bribes even though the Indicting Federal Grand Jury saw fit to charge Ciavarella for those crimes. The US Attorney had mountains of evidence as well as high profile witnesses that received very lenient plea deals waiting in the wings to testify and support those charges. At the very last moment when the other shoe was about to drop and to everyone’s shock and horror, he pulled the plug on the prosecution. That “Can of Worms” remains very tightly sealed.
My predictions are plain and simple: Ciavarella will reverse at least half of the charges he has appealed due to the direct actions and statements of the US Attorney’s Office. I also predict he will still be walking the streets as a free man as we enter the New Year. Thank you, US Attorney Peter Smith and thank you, Federal Judge Kosik.
Here
is my June 17, 2011 interview on WBRE TV channel 28, an NBC affiliate
in Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania. I am grateful to the WBRE team for the
professional interview they gave me!
My first EVER book signing could not have gone any better. The signing was
held on Sunday, June 19th at the Barnes & Noble mega-store located at the Arena Hub in
Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania. The store’s phone started ringing off the hook with
credit card orders for my book, THE DAY BEFORE THE SIGNING! I was asked to start
my signing early because of the size of the crowd and by 2:15 PM Barnes & Noble
was sold out of my book. The signing was originally scheduled to end at 4 PM. I
even sold my display copy and had to retrieve a used book from my car to set on
my table with the “Sold Out” sign on it.
In addition to the signing I was interviewed on three different radio stations as well as interviewed twice by
the local NBC TV affiliate WBRE channel 28. Being the second lead story on the
6pm news certainly didn’t hurt as far as spreading the word.
My interview on
WILK’s Sue Henry Show was originally scheduled for 15 minutes. It lasted 2 hours
and only ended because her show was over for the day. Her switch board looked
like a Christmas tree. The PBS radio station WVIA pre-recorded my interview
which I have yet to hear because of a meeting I was in when it aired. I have
been told a copy of the interview is in the mail and should be here shortly.
Finally, my interview on the David Madeira Show was very informative and as always professionally hosted.
All of the above interviews will be posted to
my web-site as soon as time permits. We are having some audio issues with the TV
interview which will take a little time to work out so please bear with us.
I want to thank everyone who turned out for my signing and helped make it the
success it was. I never knew when a person can actually call themselves an
“Author”. Now I do.
Finally, my interview on the David Madeira Show was very informative and as always professionally hosted.