December 28, 2007

Rick Mariano Finds Prison System Lacking

We've all sort of forgotten about Rick Mariano, since the former City Councilman is still in prison for a few more years. But the Daily News' Gar Joseph found his Myspace page -- which the Daily News says is some 23-year-old's page -- that a friend updates for him.

And, apparently, if you go to prison, you realize that prisons in America are horribly run and nobody really cares.

The latest, dated Nov. 23, reads, "It still amazes me that in the greatest country in the world we have such backwards penal practices. People who are no threat to society in any way are wasting time, energy and potential in stagnant confinement, denied any opportunity to make some form of restitution for our mistakes.

"We all suffer, family suffers most. The public pays and nobody benefits.

"Bassackwards."

Yes, Rick Mariano is also talking about himself here, but let's not be so cynical. He gets it!

Free Rick Mariano [Myspace]

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December 04, 2006

PWD People Of The Year: Rick Mariano

I figured I'd start off with an obvious one. Hey, he's right in the center of the graphic!

Had Rick Mariano done his City Hall breakdown/non-breakdown in 2006, he'd obviously be a shoo-in for the Person of the Year award. Alas, that happened back in October 2005 -- it feels like it was just yesterday! -- and so he's merely one of our many People of the Year.

But that doesn't mean our pal Ricky didn't do anything this year, oh no. Early in the year, Mariano was sued by a former assistant who claimed she was fired for cooperating with authorities. Then his trial started -- and was liveblogged by the Inquirer.

The trial featured profanity -- "If you can't get this fucking shit done, get the fuck out." -- as well as a side-story where Mariano got police officers to protect him from the media. It all culminated in Mariano's March conviction, an apology from the councilman and his sentencing in June to 6½ years in prison.

It seems weird that Mariano got 6½ years. Not to make excuses for him, but all he was really guilty of was not figuring out a way to take bribes "legally" and yet he got pulled away from his family and sent to prison. Honestly, it's a shame. When you can, say, get five years probation for soliciting sex for a minor, well... shit ain't right.

But they say tragedy plus time equals comedy, and perhaps the story of Rick Mariano will one day become a full-blown comedy. Not that it doesn't have any comedy in it to begin with. If tragedy plus time equals comedy, then what does comedy plus time equal? Well, even better comedy. Here it is, your Rick Mariano Moment of the Year, Gategate:

Ain't never gonna get old.

Update: More Gategate goodness.

Prospects for 2007: Uh, in jail.

Philadelphia Will Do People of the Year
Archives: Rick Mariano

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July 14, 2006

Mariano: Electrician, Lawyer, Author

With prison looming on August 7, yesterday Rick Mariano showed up at City Hall and started talkin' to the press. (This, despite saying, "Never again, to none of youse," after being sentenced last week to six-and-a-half years in prison.)

He also was wearing a tank top. (If you have photos of this, please, please, please send them may way.) KYW 1060 has the entire interview on their website as an audio file, but they helpfully transcribed a bunch of it, too. Here are the highlights:

“A big mistake. But I’m not going to sit here and tell you what that mistake was because it’s not what everybody thinks it was. There’s much more to the Rick Mariano story. They’re just going to have to wait until I write the book, I guess.”

Mariano said he is now able to find some good in his conviction on fraud and bribery charges:

“It’s the worst thing that could happen to me or anyone, but it’s actually the best thing because I didn’t like this life. I didn’t like being a councilman and I know it now. There was always an inner conflict inside of me, and I didn’t know what it was. And now I know what it was. I really don’t like this life.” [...]

“Most people have been nice and kind and good enough to me to walk up to me on the El and say they’re praying for me and wishing me good thoughts.”

As for the next six years in prison, Mariano said he hopes to lose 25 pounds and take up a new career:

“I’m going to work on taking the LSATs and becoming a lawyer. I think it's time for me to enter that arena.”

Let me be the first to offer to ghostwrite your book, Rick. I work cheap.

Mariano Reflects on His Trial, Upcoming Prison Term [KYW 1060]
Archives: Rick Mariano

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July 06, 2006

Goodbye, Ricky: Mariano Gets 6½ Years

Our favorite ex-City Councilman, Rick Mariano, was sentenced to 6.5 years in prison.

Mariano was convicted in March of taking $28,000 in bribes in exchange for help securing city business. Since leaving City Council, Mariano had returned to his old job as an electrician.

The prosecution had asked for 8 to 10 years in prison. So, hey, another win for Ricky.

Former Councilman Rick Mariano Sentenced to 6½ Years in Prison [KYW 1060]
A Poem For Rick [Philebrity]
Photo by Jeff Fusco

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June 23, 2006

Leftovers: The, Hey, It's Friday Edition

• Ahh! World Cup Quarterfinals Round of 16! No U.S., but still lots of fun. [Yahoo!]

• The new Philadelphia marketing slogan is "Forever Independent." They want it to be the Intel logo of Philly. Can we get one of those catchy jingles, too? [Metro]

• Rick Mariano could get 10 years in prison when he's sentenced in early July. Better make friends with Corey Kemp now. [Daily News]

• You know what? We're with Bunch on this one. We'll probably obsess over it a bit less, though. Maybe. [Attytood]

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June 21, 2006

Mariano Says 'Union Yes!'

It's been a while since Rick Mariano's been mentioned in the news, but Dan Gross takes care of that for us today. Turns out that Mariano has returned to his old job as an electrician.

He even rides the EL to work, or at least he did the other day, when he got off at the Erie-Torresdale stop.

"Rick Mariano is currently working as a union electrician, which is his right as a card-carrying, dues-paying member of IBEW Local 98," Frank Keel, a spokesman for the union, confirmed for us yesterday. "He has a right to make a living."

Mariano, 50, has been working for Local 98 for about a month, sources say. He worked for many years as an electrician before being elected in 1995 to Council and has remained an active union member.

Now that's the kind of moxie we like in a politician. In fact, we think this return to his roots could just help him get elected again once he gets out of prison.

Dan Gross | For Mariano, it's electric [Daily News]
Archives: Rick Mariano

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June 05, 2006

Rick Mariano: 'So you don't think I'm nuts, right?'

Hey, remember Rick Mariano? Sure you do. He climbed to the top of City Hall, got indicted for bribery, convicted of bribery and also got hit by a gate while walking out of City Council.

It's been a while since we've checked in with ol' Ricky, but since the Inquirer notes today some recent unsealed court documents, it's time to take another look. The key conversation Inky reporter Michael Currie Schaffer recounts is between U.S. Judge Lawrence Stengel and Mariano, concerning the then-City Councilman's competency to cooperate with investigators after his conviction:

Stengel: I'm satisfied you're competent to make any decisions that you have to make here.

Mariano: So you don't think I'm nuts, right?

Stengel: Well, it's not for me to say.

Mariano: You won't go that far.

Stengel: The psychiatrist certainly confirmed that you're competent to make choices about your case and you understand.

Mariano: I assure, Judge, I'm not suicidal or nuts.

Stengel: OK

Mariano: No nuttier than -

Stengel: OK, than the rest of us.

Mariano: Well, than anyone in this position.

Rick's right. When other standing government officials were indicted for bribery, they weren't nearly that funny afterward.

What the judge said about Mariano's sanity [Inky]
Archives: Rick Mariano

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May 01, 2006

Quickies: Perhaps The Boss Will Write A Song About It

• You think Amadou Diallo had it bad? Well, yeah, he died and all. But the Philly PD one-upped '41 shots' and shot a man 42 times! Impressive, boys in blue. [NBC 10]

• Today, if you're wondering, is Rick Mariano's last day on City Council, and Action News has an exclusive interview. Aw. [6 ABC]

• The carpenter's union is on strike! The carpenter's union is on strike! Oh no! Well, an automated script on their website said it; it must be true. [Inky]

• The boyhood of Chuck Pennacchio: "As an 8-year-old in 1968, Chuck Pennacchio followed Sen. Robert Kennedy's quest for the Democratic presidential nomination." Perhaps this is why Pennacchiomentum isn't sweeping the state like he had hoped. [Doylestown Intelligencer]

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April 26, 2006

Leftovers: Snitchin' Ain't Bitchin'

• Ex-Rick Mariano lawyer Nino Tinari is now a consultant with Philip Chartock's defense team, who are now saying Mariano was simply a thief and not someone who could have been bribed. There are so many stories that you just can't make up today. It's been too much. [Inky]

• Despite all this, here's the headline of the day: "NFL Great's Relative Admits Having Sex With Student." Yes, and it's George Halas' great-nephew. That's a bit of a stretch. [NBC 10]

• How do you publicize next month's Phillymag issue? Why, you publish the article about Donald Trump online, because what we really need is to read more about him! The kicker, though: The article's effing detailed, well-sourced and actually just tremendously interesting. One of the better things I've read in a while. Yes, I know. Black is white, and down is up. I can't figure out what the hell's going on, either. [Phillymag]

• Ex-MTV jock Chris Booker is headed to Q102, and the straight ladies and the gay men scream. Meanwhile, everyone else is like, "Holy shit! Q102 still exists?" [Inky]

• This story has everything: A ridiculous interpretation of spelling bee rules, a lot of angry parents, a lot of angry parent backlash and a newspaper editor accusing another newspaper of doing hack jobs on the spelling bee his paper sponsored. It's the scandal of the century in the Lehigh Valley! [A List Of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago]

• A woman in Bucks County has topped that whole newsstand stealing thing: She stole a whole house. She didn't get a crane to pick it up or anything, though -- check fraud is not nearly as cool. [AP/Inky]

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April 24, 2006

Denoument: Rick Mariano

That's it? This is how it ends? A simple little letter, an apology and a few months or so to prep for prison? Color me unimpressed. And surprised.

From his climb to the top of City Hall to his gate-induced injury to his extra protection from the media, I sort of expected some sort of super-fun finish where he punched out Johnny Doc and gave John Street a wedgie right before he was hauled off to prison. But, nope, he's resigning from City Council, effective Monday, and says he's truly sorry for his actions.

I can't help but feel sorry for him. Not that I didn't before. It's never funny when someone is hauled away from his family and taken to prison. Even when someone really, truly deserves everything he's gotten, it's more disappointing than anything else, unless you have some sort of emotional tie to the case.

And, yes, it's disappointing that a City Councilman would take a bribe -- and, really, a small one at that -- and it's disappointing that he now has to go to jail. There's no schadenfreude here. Especially, well, as The West End points out, with this shit, quoting an Inquirer article:

By waiting until May 1 to make his resignation effective, Verna said Mariano, who says he has discovered he has diabetes and recently had some polyps removed, would keep his medical coverage through the end of the month.

Eh. Get well soon. Really. Thanks for the memories. (And the entertainment.)

Mariano resigns and admits wrongdoing [Inky]
On the workers' day [The West End]
Archives: Rick Mariano

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April 19, 2006

Rick Mariano's Final Blaze Of Glory

News broke yesterday that Rick Mariano had given the feds a "proffer" -- which is information that could be used in a court case down the line -- after he was convicted of 18 charges.

Now, Mariano's former lawyer, Nino Tinari, says that he knew nothing about Mariano talking to the feds until Mariano phoned him Monday night and told him, oh, he was fired earlier this month.

Mariano is obviously talking to the feds now in the hopes he can get a more lenient sentence, which makes sense. But when he walked alone into the office of federal prosecutors on April 6 to give them their "proffer" -- seriously, where did this word come from? I don't have access to the OED anymore -- Thomas Bergstrom was appointed his attorney without even knowing it.

Now that's the kind of job I want. I kind of dig this blogging thing, but if I can represent a guy without having to be there and without even knowing it, no wonder all my friends from college are going to law school! (Bergstrom, you may remember, helped get ex-Penn professor Tracy McIntosh, who was convicted of sexual assault, 11 1/2 to 23 months of house arrest.)

I'm liking this new Mariano tactic. If you're going to go down, you might as well go down in a blaze of glory. Hell, tell the feds whatever the hell you want: implicate Cardinal Rigali in the City Hall corruption scandal, tell the feds John Street runs a puppy mill, say Johnny Doc has been hunting feral cats for sport and that Ed Rendell deals crystal meth on the side. I mean, what do you have to lose?

Mariano kept secrets from his lawyer - then fired him [Daily News]

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April 18, 2006

Gates Beware: Mariano Is Talking

You know, I kind of wondered why, after he was convicted, no one on City Council called on Rick Mariano to resign. Usually politicians are quick to jump on a convicted colleague, as it's an easy way to show you're "tough on crime."

Back then, I just chalked it up to our city's fine councilpeople being spineless hacks. And that's probably still true. But, well, now that Rick's convicted, he's talkin' to the feds. Now, I don't think that he's going to have any knowledge of illegal activities on anyone currently on council, but you pry want to be on his good side. Heck, right now I want to be on his good side.

There's only a few details on what Mariano said to Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Schwartz, who wrote about Mariano in a letter to the attorneys for the owners of Erie Steel Co. We do, however, learn a new word today, and that's proffer, which is, according to the Daily News' Chris Brennan, "a conversation about potential evidence that could be offered in a criminal case."

I don't know who, if anyone, should be worried about Mariano. Actually, no, that's not true. I do know one: That evil gate in City Hall.

Proffer they can't refuse [DN]
Archives: Rick Mariano

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April 06, 2006

Quickies: Gay Bar

• In legal news, the Philadelphia Bar Association has come out against the PIMP Act -- that's the "Pennsylvania Marriage Protection Act" -- which would ban same-sex marriages in the commonwealth. Good for them. It's hard out here for a PIMP Act, &c. [KYW 1060]

• So why did the cops shut down a party at Transit two hours early? Nobody seems to know. [fiftyone:fiftyone]

• The New York Sun -- kind of the Evening Bulletin of New York -- reports that Scooter Libby testified President Bush okayed a leak to the New York Times, putting Bush directly in the chain of events that led to the leaking of Valerie Plame's name. Like, whoa. [Gawker (the Sun website is down)]

• Can someone (seriously) explain this anti-Jeopardy! piece? I'm totally baffled. [Early Word]

• In honor of Jimmy Rollins' 38-game hitting streak, here's a statheaded look at both his and Joe DiMaggio's streaks. Very good piece. [Sportszilla]

• City Council President Anna Verna is the first person to get angry at Rick Mariano! Of course, she's just mad that he sent a letter home saying his office would be "fully staffed." Guess the councilwoman doesn't want people to know that you can do her job from prison. [KYW 1060]

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April 03, 2006

Mariano: It's Not You, It's Me

It's been a tough past couple of days for Rick Mariano. Although he got released on bail last week, his sentencing was moved up over a month to June 1 and somebody knocked enough sense into him that even if you stay on City Council, it might not be the best idea to attend council sessions. So he loses a month of freedom, and he's not goign to attend council anymore!

There is some hope, though. Mariano released a letter to his constituents, and The Evening Bulletin helpfully printed it. (They also noted it was drafted by Mariano's chief of staff.) He doesn't apologize in the letter -- and a spokesman says he won't -- but he does sort of do the "girlfriend apology," i.e., it's just not working out:

Dear Neighbor and Friend,

While my future is clouded and the tide seems to have turned, I want to assure you that my City Council office will remain open and fully staffed to serve you.

Over the course of my 10 years on City Council, it has been my pleasure to provide more than $93 million for housing, youth, veterans and community organizations.

Also, in a complex district with many ethnic groups, I have worked to guarantee that our differences don't become divisions.

I am not claiming to have been a "perfect" councilperson. I am simply telling you that I tried and I cared.

Respectfully, I ask for your patience and prayers as I prepare to walk the walk that is before me.

Although he could have just said he had met somebody else, but at least he didn't do it over IM or text messages or something.

Things are looking up for the convicted councilman, though. In this letter, he actually set a world record for most clichés in five paragraphs. Congrats, Rick!

Mariano Speaks [Evening Bulletin]
Mariano takes a bye on City Council meeting [Inky]
Rick's date June 1 [Daily News]
Archives: Rick Mariano

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March 29, 2006

Mariano Is Free

Okay, first off, how hilarious is this photo from Rick Mariano's official City Council page, after his little trip to the top of city hall? I can't believe I didn't notice this before. (That's result No. 1 on Google for "Rick Mariano." Results number 5 and 6 are none other than Philadelphia Will Do. How fun!)

Yesterday, Rick Mariano was released from jail after 11 days in jail. This is a good thing. As much as we here at Philadelphia Will Do mock Rick Mariano on an almost daily basis -- and by "we," I mean "I" -- he should certainly have the right to see his family before he heads to prison for a few years. It's not like he's going to go running around City Hall in his last few days of freedom, taking bribes left and right, punching out Anna Verna and giving a wedgie to Brian O'Neill. (That last one would be awesome, actually.)

Despite what was previously said, Mariano won't be in City Council tomorrow, which is kind of a shame, since he could surely provide some unintentional comedy in his final days in office. I mean, I don't even really fault my boy Ricky for not relinquishing his post; the law doesn't require him to, and, really, what would you expect? (It's the other City Council members who are like, "Oh, he should get to keep his post!" that's much more disgusting.)

Now that he's out, though, Mariano has acually stopped causing his own hilarity and has started causing some media hilarity:

Mariano's first public appearance since the verdict, a simple 20-foot walk from the federal courthouse in Center City to a waiting taxi, turned into a carnival. As he left, the councilman squeezed awkwardly through an aggressive pack of journalists. In the confusion, two photographers tumbled onto Market Street. [...]

Reached at his home last night on a quiet, treeless street in Juniata Park, Mariano, dressed in an olive-colored T-shirt, looked like he was relaxing - not expecting company.

He said he had no comment, and told a reporter: "Don't come to my house."

He then quickly shut the door.

But what kind of pants does he wear, Inquirer? All the facts, please!

In first public appearance, Mariano says 'I'm fine,' but nothing more [Inky]
Philadelphia City Council: Rick Mariano [Phila.gov]
Oct. 21: Mariano mayhem!
Archives: Rick Mariano

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March 28, 2006

Leftovers: Looking For A City Councilman To Bribe?

• Whoo! Rick Mariano was released on bail today, presumably since he's not in danger of killing himself or anyone else anytime sooon. He just needs to watch out for -- and, no, we're never letting this go -- swinging gates at City Hall. [Inky]

• More on the controversy of Morgan "Super Size Me" Spurlock's speech at Hatboro Horsham yesterday. Apparently, students are so scared about saying they enjoyed his speech they don't want their names used by the paper. [Doylestown Intelligencer]

• A British blogger is up for a nonfiction writing award. I expect to be collecting that Pulitzer check any day now. [BBC News]

• Bloggy goodness! Daily News TV critic Ellen Gray will be liveblogging American Idol tonight! [DN]

• Back in the 'Burbs, Doylestown is now enforcing "Get off my lawn!" as the law of the township. Yahoo! [Doylestown Intelligencer]

• Turns out, if you combine Red Bull and Alcohol, you don't feel as buzzed as you would with alcohol alone, but it still affects your motor skills just as much. I bet it'd be even more fun to read this study drunk! [EurekAlert via Boing Boing]

• And, finally, owners of the social networking site Facebook turned down an offer of $750 million for the company and are hoping for a cool $2 billion. Oh, yes, of course. [Business Week]

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March 22, 2006

Quickies: Whiz kids

• You know how the Comcast Center is going to be a "green" building with urinals that don't use water but aren't disgusting? Yeah, that'd be so cool! Being Philadelphia, the plumbers' union is crying that they're not going to get enough money from installing these toilets as they would regular ones. Waaaaaah! There's really not much more I can add to this fantastic Daily News editorial, although I don't think they were harsh enough. [DN]

• The New York subway system is getting messageboard signs that say when the next train is coming. They're already in London, Paris and Washington. Philadelphia should have them in about 2156. [AP/Yahoo!]

• Delaware hired a new basketball coach Tuesday, then rescinded the offer due to the coach's 2004 DUI. Which he had been forthcoming and honest about during interviews. This is officially your WTF moment of the day. [Wilmington News Journal]

• Rick Mariano resigned from two City Council posts yesterday, but he'll still keep receiving that $102,000 paycheck until he's sentenced. Oh, whatever. [DN]

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March 21, 2006

Rick Mariano Is Stealing Your Money

I had a friend who once delivered a package to Aaron McKie's house, when he was still a member of the 76ers. McKie wasn't there, but if he was, my friend said he was going to ask him where the hell his money was, since he was stealing it with his poor play.

Similarly, columnists and radio talk show hosts occasionally say that the government is "stealing your money" with some sort of stupid program, some politician who does nothing, &c. Usually, my thinking is that whatever program or pol is being railed against would in no way be as bad as what could happen to the money if it wasn't there.

Oh, you're against the National Kumquat Regulatory Board, which grants licenses for the selling of kumquats? (Note: This government body may not exist.) Well, it could be worse. Without the National Kumquat Regulatory Board -- the NKRB -- the money spent on salaries, office space, supplies, a website, a cartoon mascot, &c. would probably be simply burned and the ashes flushed down an official government toilet. That's how things work in the government.

However, this issue here is pretty cut and dry: Rick Mariano is stealing your money. The city councilman, who was convicted last week of bribery and related charges, is in jail and is not resigning from City Council. He's in jail. He can't do anything for his constituents. But he's still collecting a paycheck. And he's going to keep doing this until he's sentenced, when he'll officially be kicked off Council.

And Brian O'Neill, the minority leader in Council, says that any attempt to ask Mariano to resign would be "grandstanding." So, basically, a councilman who was convicted in taking $30,000 in bribes -- which is not even a good bribe, meaning that Mariano's even a bigger idiot than we thought -- is not stepping down and is in jail collecting a paycheck.

Councilman James Kenney said that having Mariano resign would be piling on. "His office should function, and it's a couple of months and he'll be gone," Kenney said. "He's lost everything. He's lost his income and pension and his political infrastructure and his former friends. I can't see where piling on can be helpful to anyone."

Aww, poor baby! He committed a crime and now he's paying for it. I'm sorry to break up this big City Council circlejerk, but getting a felon out of office -- who sold his office for not even much money -- seems like something that'd be pretty easy for politicans to support.

Hey, I understand Mariano keeping the money -- it's money, he wants it, there's no law saying he can't stay on the payroll. But the City Council members who say that not only he should remain on council, but anyone asking him to resign is wrong, is just simply fucking disgusting. And about 100 times more embarassing than Mariano's conviction in the first place.

But, you know, it's not surprising.

Council poll: Rick can work [DN]

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March 17, 2006

Breaking: Mariano...

... found guilty, bail revoked, goes directly to jail, does not pass go, &c. &c.:

A federal jury today convicted City Councilman Rick Mariano on corruption charges.

He was convicted of corruption, money laundering, fraud, tax and bribery charges. He was found not guilty of four fraud charges. [...]

Judge says the incident at City Hall was never completed explained to my satisfication and may signal threat to his own safety and risk to others. He said he thinks a person facing a lengthy prison sentence presents a risk of flight. He orders a mental health evaluation "as soon as possible."

Then the judge says he will hold another hearing.

Until then, councilman is in custody.

Sigh.

Update: Mayor Street weighs in:

Councilman Rick Mariano has been a good friend for many years. He has served the people of the Seventh Councilmanic District for the past decade with energy and passion, with a reputation of always fighting for working people.

A jury has determined the law has been violated. No one is above the law. No city employee or elected official is entitled to misuse a public position for private gain. Such behavior is not only illegal, it erodes public confidence in government.

Under the circumstances the councilman should resign and focus on his future. His resignation would be in the best interests of the city.

We continue to hold this government to the highest ethical standards and maintain a zero tolerance for corruption. My Administration has worked hard to enhance ethical standards for city employees and to implement the ethics requirements for all city officials approved by the voters last year.

That last paragraph to be read with a large wry smile on your face.

USA v. Mariano

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Quickies: Not tasty at all

• The Tasty Baking Company is offering a $10,000 reward in the hunt for two teenagers who were callous enough to shoot and rob a Tastykake driver. Bastards. [CBS 3]

• The woman who alleged she had been raped by a member of the Philadelphia Soul has requested the charged be dropped. [KYW 1060]

• The jury is deliberating in the Rick Mariano trial. And by "deliberating," I mean they're watching the footage of him being hit by that gate and laughing over and over and over again. [Mariano v. USA]

• Hey, Gavin Floyd pitched well yesterday! Could things actually be falling in place for the Phillies? [Daily News]

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March 15, 2006

Not quite Iraq, but close

I apologize for not posting recently about the Rick Mariano trial. But when the defense just brings out person after person who says that, no, wow, Rick really does a good job -- none of whom have much, if anything, to do with the case -- there's not really much to say.

But kudos to Mariano's lawyer, Nino Tinari, for going all out: Today he had a disabled veteran and a homeless shelter operator telling the jury with a good job he's done. Coming soon, Tinari's going to bring out a bunch of puppies who will bark lovingly at Mariano and lick his face for about an hour.

The good sports over at the Inquirer have continued blogging the trial, and today they learned what I face every day, the dangers of being a blogger:

Mariano is apparently in good spirits this morning. Moments ago, he jokingly tried to yank the wireless adapter out of our laptop. But nothing can stop your Mariano trial blog team.

It gets worse, fellas. Better put on those flak jackets, fellas. I wear mine every day.

Attempted Wire Fraud? [USA v. Mariano]

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March 13, 2006

The Mariano trial resumes (with profanity!)

The Rick Mariano trial resumed Friday with two witnesses saying Mariano laundered checks and another changing her story on the stand, albiet not in a "Stop Snitchin'" kind of way.

The trial's expected to last about two or three more days, and if the early morning testimony is any indicator, we're going to have the best two final trial days ever. From the Inky's Mariano Trial blog:

Anna Davila has just started testifying. She's recounting how Louis Chartock was yelling at her on the phone over some L&I paperwork when she was an aide in Mariano’s office. She's using bad words. The F word, the B word, the S word. "The same words, over and over again," Davilla said.

Then, she testifies, the councilman berated her about her efforts to help Lou Chartock.

She said the councilman told her, "He is a good friend of mine. He has done for me. I owe him. If you can't get this fucking shit done, get the fuck out."

Later, she says, he called her "an incompetent bitch."

As opposed to Rick Mariano, master of competence, except in walking past gates without being injured.

Weather and weathering the boss [USA v. Mariano]
Mariano accuser changes story on stand [DN]
2 witnesses testify Mariano laundered checks [Inky]

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March 10, 2006

'Run! The media's out there!'

On a day when the trial was postponed, Rick Mariano still managed to make news. In fact, he managed to make his biggest news since getting hit by a gate as he walked out of City Hall.

It concerned the gate incident, though. (Gategate, as Urban Warrior dubbed it.) Rick Mariano has been assigned a police detail to protect him from the press when he enters City Council.

I'll say that again: Rick Mariano has been assigned a police detail. To protect him from the press. As a member of the press, I'd like to say that we are the least threatening people on the planet. Seriously. And in a city where people won't testify for fear of retaliation, it just seems a little odd to give Rick Mariano a police detail just because it'll make him look more like a victim.

Oh, wait, but Council president Anna Verna has a reason!

"I strongly felt that we should have somebody to escort him upstairs if he came in today," Verna said. "If that were you, wouldn't you be expecting me to try to maintain some order?"

Yes, the press, always breaking up City Council meetings and yelling at random times and injuring people's knees and taking bribes... er, wait, scratch that last one. That's another profession.

March 3: Here's a video of Rick Mariano getting injured as he walks out of City Council yesterday
Archives: Stop snitchin'

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March 09, 2006

Rick Mariano trial update

The prosecution presented its first witness yesterday in the trial of Rick Mariano, the city councilman accused of accepting $30K in bribes. The chief witness is Maggie Greer, a former employee of Erie Steel who was the whistleblower who originally sent the feds an anonymous letter.

Greer testified that her boss told her the money sent to Mariano was in return for his help in getting Erie Steel designated as a Keystone Opportunity Zone business. Mariano's lawyers contend the payments were loans. Greer testified that an audit discovered the first payment, and she tried to stop other ones, but her boss told her to keep making them.

Greer pled guilty to stealing $42K from Erie Steel, only to say yesterday that guilty plea was just something she said, and she wasn't really a thief. Naturally, Mariano's attorney pounced, and cross examination of her will continue today.

Earlier in the day, Walt De Treux, Mariano's former chief of staff, had less wishy-washy testimony, including recounting a conversation with Mariano where Ricky said he was going to jail.

Everybody's off today due to a scheduling conflict. (I'm not sure how that works. Maybe Mariano has a rec soccer game or something.) The trial resumes Friday.

Mariano witness admits to earlier lie [Inky]

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March 08, 2006

Rick Mariano's Hit Parade

Opening statements began yesterday in the trial of Rick Mariano, who is accused of taking $30,000 in bribes in exchange for city contracts and such. The jury consists of five women and seven men. Only two are from the city.

Yesterday, assistant U.S. attorney Kenya Mann said Mariano "sold his office for $28,000." Mariano's attorney, Nino Tinari, said that he "did nothing illegal, nothing immoral." Basically, Mariano's defense seems to be "Come on! The councilman got his constituents good stuff! Also, he's a hardworking family man! He was an electrician!" He also accused one of the government's witnesses of having "issues, and those issues are not psychological. It's all about money."

Mariano's attorney kept mentioning in his opening statement what a great job Mariano did for his "community," and he continued that hard work by filing a claim that could lead to workman's comp due to being hit by a gate while leaving City Council last week.

His chief of staff did what any good community man would do after his accident. He blamed the media (emphasis mine):

His Chief of Staff, Jay McCalla, calls the filing routine. "You want to see transparency of an injury. Maybe even the word 'assault' could be used. But I do see this as responsible behavior on the part of the councilperson, which brings an end to a really ugly incident."

Now that's a real community man.

Mariano Files 'Gate-Gate' Injury With City Disability Office [KYW 1060]
Mariano jury mostly from out of town [Inky]

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