PA Judge Sentenced for Selling Children

A judge should know the law to a "T," making it that much more strange when one breaks it.

But according to the courts, that is exactly what former Pennsylvania judge Mark Ciavarella Jr., 61, did while serving his role. According to multiple media outlets, Ciavarella was sentenced on Wednesday to 30 years for "literally selling young juveniles for cash."

The judge was paid kickbacks for sending children to local prisons during his term in Luzerne County, sometimes refusing them legal representation, according to the Huffington Post. 

"He was convicted of accepting money in exchange for incarcerating thousands of adults and children into a prison facility owned by a developer who was paying him under the table," said BlackNews.com. "The kickbacks amounted to more than $1 million."

Ciavarella was convicted on 12 counts, including racketeering, money laundering, mail fraud and tax evasion, and was ordered to repay $1.2 million in restitution.

For the full story on his case, visit the Huffington Post's story here.