Speaker 1: In the early two thousands, residents of northeastern Pennsylvania started
Speaker 1: to notice an alarming trend. Children were being sent away
Speaker 1: to jail in high numbers and for crime so mild
Speaker 1: they might normally result in a grounding. The FBI began
Speaker 1: looking at two local judges on the heels of an
Speaker 1: investigation into the mafia, and when the full picture emerged,
Speaker 1: it made national headlines. American Scandal is a podcast from
Speaker 1: Wondery that takes you deep into the most infamous scandals
Speaker 1: in American history, from presidential lies to environmental disasters and
Speaker 1: corporate fraud. Their new season takes you to the criminal
Speaker 1: kickback scheme dubbed Kids for Cash, that would shatter the
Speaker 1: lives of countless children and force a heated debate about punishment.
Speaker 1: In America's criminal justice system, judges take a sacred oath
Speaker 1: to uphold the law. Their considered the stewards of morality
Speaker 1: and fairness, and are entrusted to find justice. But for
Speaker 1: the community in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, their belief in the
Speaker 1: justice system was shattered in one of the biggest judicial
Speaker 1: corruption cases in modern history. You're about to hear a
Speaker 1: preview of American Scandal while you're listening follow American Scandal.
Speaker 1: Wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen ad free
Speaker 1: on Amazon Music or the Wondery app.
Speaker 2: Wondering. It's January thirtieth, two thousand and seven in northeast Pennsylvania.
Speaker 2: In a hallway outside a juvenile courtroom, Jessica Vanreath is
Speaker 2: pacing anxiously, clutching a small piece of paper. County Courthouse
Speaker 2: is full of teenagers and their parents, all waiting for
Speaker 2: their turn in front of a judge. Some of the
Speaker 2: kids are engaged in heated arguments with their parents, while
Speaker 2: others are sitting on benches, completely silent and looking terrified.
Speaker 2: But if there's one thing all these families have in common,
Speaker 2: it's that no one seems happy to be here. It's
Speaker 2: a feeling Jessica Vanreeth can relate to. Vanreith is sixteen
Speaker 2: years old and a junior at a nearby public high school.
Speaker 2: She has a reputation for being confident and outspoken, the
Speaker 2: kind of teenager who isn't afraid to speak her mind,
Speaker 2: wear what she wants to, or argue with people about politics.
Speaker 2: Vanreith knows she can sometimes come off as a bit sharp,
Speaker 2: but that's only a small part of who she really is.
Speaker 2: Vnreith is a good student with a solid GPA, and
Speaker 2: on top of all the academics, she's held a part
Speaker 2: time job for the last two years, working as a
Speaker 2: waitress at a local Italian place. All in all, Vanreith
Speaker 2: sees herself as a pretty normal teenager, which is why
Speaker 2: this whole experience has been so stupefying. In a few minutes,
Speaker 2: Vanreith has to defend herself against criminal charges. It all
Speaker 2: started a few months ago when she was caught by
Speaker 2: her vice principal holding a lighter and a pipe used
Speaker 2: to smoke weed. When the vice principal caught her, Vanreith
Speaker 2: didn't know what to say. The pipe and lighter belonged
Speaker 2: to her friend, but she didn't want to get them
Speaker 2: in trouble, so Vanreith took the blame. But she didn't
Speaker 2: just get a slap on the wrist. She was charged
Speaker 2: with a crime and now she has to appear in
Speaker 2: juvenile court in front of Judge Mark Shivrella, known for
Speaker 2: his policy of zero tolerance and with a reputation for
Speaker 2: sending kids away from minor offenses. But Vanreith jotted down
Speaker 2: what she believes are some good arguments, and she's hoping
Speaker 2: she can make a strong appeal to the judge and
Speaker 2: get him to show some leniency. Vanreith continues pacing the
Speaker 2: hallway outside the courtroom when her father, Jack comes up
Speaker 2: and lays a hand on her shoulder. You doing okay, honey, Yeah,
Speaker 2: I'm just scared. I didn't do anything bad. But doesn't
Speaker 2: mean the judge is going to see that now, Jessica,
Speaker 2: he'll do the right thing. Yeah, he'll see it. I promise, dad.
Speaker 2: You don't know that. No, I do know that. Remember
Speaker 2: I talked to the people in the probation department and
Speaker 2: they laid out the worst case scenario, which is that
Speaker 2: you get probation right. Nothing to be scared of here.
Speaker 2: But what if they were wrong. I don't even have
Speaker 2: a lawyer. We should have gotten one, Jessica. We went
Speaker 2: over this. The probation officers said you didn't need an attorney.
Speaker 1: You're gonna be.
Speaker 2: Fine, and that's us. Come on, Honny, let's get it
Speaker 2: over with. Then we'll get out of here and put
Speaker 2: it all behind us. Benreith nods, and she and her
Speaker 2: dad step into the courtroom, where they find Judge Severella
Speaker 2: sitting at his bench. Chevrella is in his mid fifties
Speaker 2: and sits peering down at Vinreath with a look of contempt.
Speaker 2: He tosses aside his paperwork, and a moment later the
Speaker 2: hearing gets underway. This is van Reith. You stand accused
Speaker 2: of possession of drug paraphernalia. How do you plead to
Speaker 2: these charges? Van Wreith takes out her folded piece of
Speaker 2: paper and glances down at her notes. She's been getting
Speaker 2: ready for this moment for days. She's standing in front
Speaker 2: of the judge. She suddenly feels frozen. I'm a come on,
Speaker 2: speak up. I can't hear you. I'm sorry, Fanreith to
Speaker 2: the charges of possession of drug paraphernalia guilty or not guilty? Guilty?
Speaker 2: I see, and you were there when I spoke at
Speaker 2: Crestwood High School. Vanreith doesn't admit that she made a
Speaker 2: point of missing Chivarella's appearances when he came to her
Speaker 2: high school. Instead, she just shakes her head. No, sir,
Speaker 2: I wasn't at school those days. Did your friends attend
Speaker 2: the assemblies?
Speaker 1: Yes?
Speaker 2: And did they tell you what I said? Yes? But
Speaker 2: what did I say? Would happen if you had drugged
Speaker 2: in school. You said you would send us away. That's right,
Speaker 2: and that's what I'm going to do now. The hearing
Speaker 2: hasn't lasted more than ninety seconds, but Chivarella hands down
Speaker 2: a severe judgment, ordering Vanreith into juvenile detention. Benreith wants
Speaker 2: to plead with the judge to get him to reconsider,
Speaker 2: but Chivarella moves fast and tells the sheriff to place
Speaker 2: her in handcuffs. Van Wreith starts to panic, looking over
Speaker 2: at her father, hoping he can somehow intervene, but her
Speaker 2: dad looks just as stunned and confused as she is.
Speaker 2: A moment later, Vanreath has led out of the courtroom,
Speaker 2: feeling dizzy and speechless. She doesn't know how this could
Speaker 2: have happened, how a judge could be so unfair. He
Speaker 2: didn't even seem interested in her side of the story.
Speaker 2: Jessica Vanreith is only a teenager and doesn't know a
Speaker 2: lot about courts or judges, but one thing was obvious.
Speaker 2: It appeared his only goal was to send her to
Speaker 2: jail and then move on to the next kid.