Former local attorney Robert Powell has furnished documents required to calculate his net worth in a “Kids for Cash” suit settlement, prompting a federal judge to reject the plaintiffs’ request to order compliance and impose sanctions, according to court paperwork.
The plaintiffs sought court intervention in April, alleging Powell had “stonewalled” the release of information.
Pittsburgh attorney Stephen S. Stallings, who represents Powell, had criticized the request for court action, saying in a May 12 filing that Powell planned to submit a substantial amount of documentation within two weeks.
A Hazleton-area native, Powell estimated he has a negative net worth that would exempt him from paying a second settlement installment of up to $2.75 million to 1,800 parents and juveniles, court records show. They sued him and others in 2009 in connection with a judicial corruption scandal that made international headlines. Powell already paid a first installment totaling $4.75 million last year under a settlement agreement.
Because the plaintiffs rejected Powell’s net worth calculation, a determination will be made by independent expert Thomas Pratt, of Schneider Downs & Co. Inc. in Pittsburgh.
The plaintiffs maintained intervention was warranted because the Powell defendants — Powell, Powell Law Group PC and his company, Vision Holdings LLC —had not released any information sought by Pratt in February and March.
In a memorandum issued this week, U.S. District Judge A. Richard Caputo said he sees no reason to issue an order compelling production of documents that have since been produced.
Sanctions are not in order because the settlement agreement contains no express time restrictions or deadlines to turn over requested documents, Caputo wrote.
“This is not to say that the Powell defendants are free to take an unreasonable amount of time to produce the requested documents,” the judge added.
Powell also filed paperwork accusing the plaintiff lawyers of intentionally releasing his confidential estimated net worth in documents seeking the court intervention.
The plaintiffs said the Powell defendants did not identify any agreement or court order requiring the information to remain confidential when it was furnished or raise objections when the proposed unredacted court filings were presented to Powell’s legal counsel.
Caputo said he won’t rule on Powell’s request for sanctions because the request was informal and embedded in a brief opposing another motion.
Powell served an 18-month prison sentence for failing to report a $2.8 million payment scheme involving former county judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella and two juvenile detention centers Powell had co-owned. The two former judges are still serving federal prison sentences.
