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A Pennsylvania mother took aim at President Biden after he commuted the prison sentence for a corrupt judge who imposed sentences on juveniles in exchange for millions of dollars in return.
Sandy Fonzo’s son Edward Kenzakoski took his own life after having to spend eight months in juvenile detention, and she joined “FOX & Friends” to reveal her message to the president.
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“Joe Biden came here and campaigned multiple, multiple times that he was… ‘Joe Scranton.’ He was one of us. He knew of our struggles and he cared about our community and our kids and our families, and that is just absolutely not true,” Fonzo told Steve Doocy on Monday.
“He is not one of us.”
Fonzo called for reform of the system related to presidential pardons and commutations.
“I want to see his name removed because that’s just… another slap in the face, another injustice, on top of all of the grief that everybody in this community has already endured,” she continued.
Sandy Fonzo, whose late son was a victim of the corrupt kickback scheme, joined ‘Fox & Friends’ to discuss her reaction to the news Biden commuted the sentence of Pennsylvania Judge Michael Conahan.
In what came to be known as the kids-for-cash scandal, former Judge Michael Conahan shut down a county-run juvenile detention center and shared $2.8 million in illegal payments from the builder and co-owner of two for-profit lockups. Another judge, Mark Ciavarella, was also involved in the illicit scheme, the effects of which are still felt today among victims and families.
Ciavarella ordered children as young as 8 years old to detention, many of them first-time offenders deemed delinquent for petty theft, jaywalking, truancy, smoking on school grounds and other minor infractions. The judge often ordered youths he had found delinquent to be immediately shackled, handcuffed and taken away without giving them a chance to put up a defense or even say goodbye to their families.
In 2022, both Conahan and Ciavarella were ordered to pay more than $200 million to nearly 300 people they victimized, although it’s unlikely the now-adult victims will see even a fraction of the damages award.
Former Luzerne County Court Judges Michael Conahan, front left, and Mark Ciavarella, front right, leave the United States District Courthouse in Scranton, Pa., on Sept. 15, 2009. (AP Photo/The Citizens’ Voice, Mark Moran)
The scandal is considered Pennsylvania’s largest-ever judicial corruption scheme with the state’s supreme court throwing out some 4,000 juvenile convictions involving more than 2,300 kids after the scheme was uncovered.
Biden granted commutation to Conahan, who was jailed for more than 17 years after he was caught taking the kickbacks for sending juveniles to the for-profit detention facilities.
Conahan, 72, pleaded guilty in 2010 to one count of racketeering conspiracy but was released from prison to home confinement in 2020 because of COVID-19 health concerns with six years left in his sentence.
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“I was filled with every kind of emotion,” Fonzo said after she heard the news. “Hurt. Defeat. Now that I’ve had more time to process it, it’s more of anger… This is very deeply upsetting and personal.”
Biden’s announcement last week was a part of the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history in which he commuted jail sentences for nearly 1,500 people and granted 39 pardons.
Fonzo said after her son, who was involved in an underage drinking incident, was locked up for months and never recovered from it. He eventually committed suicide.
“When my son did come out, it was eight months at that time,” Fonzo said. “He was not the same person. He was pent-up with anger and bitter for all the wrong. He would not accept any kind of counseling… He didn’t want to look you in the eye… I can’t imagine, and I try to not think about what happened to him in that facility, but he never recovered from that.”
“These judges just had control,” she continued. “They had all the power, and nobody could say anything. Nobody could step up.”
Other kids who fell victim to the “kickback” scheme have died since the lawsuit began in 2009, either by overdose or suicide.
“He ruined my son’s life. My life. He ruined multiple lives,” Fonzo said.
“There’s so many kids that have lost their lives, not just my son… One of the boys that was eight, Charlie, that’s actually in the documentary with us and went around and spoke out about this. He has lost his life since. There’s so many kids that are still struggling.”
Fox News’ Michael Dorgan, Matt Finn and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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