LUZERNE COUNTY -- Some of the people sent to jail by former Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella more than a decade ago are outraged that he could possibly get years knocked off his sentence.
A federal judge on Monday ordered a new trial for the judge on three of his felony convictions.
All of those sentenced in the so-called "Kids for Cash" scandal are now in their 20s and 30s. Many of them were jolted when learning the man convicted of profiting from their convictions could be out of prison sooner than expected.
Raheem Armitage of Pittston can't forget the 10 months he spent locked up in 2006 when he was just 16.
"That's a big part of my life that I lost for something so simple I shouldn't have been put away for."
Former Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella handed down Armitage's sentence after he says he bruised a school teacher's ankle by tossing a textbook.
But now, Armitage fears the former judge who sentenced him could be out of prison sooner than expected.
"There are a lot of kids including myself that are definitely upset," Armitage said.
Scranton defense attorney Chris Powell does not think Ciavarella will walk out of prison soon, despite the vacated convictions on three crimes.
If a jury finds Ciavarella not guilty in a retrial, or if federal prosecutors don't retry Ciavarella, Powell says a judge would likely reduce Ciavarella's base prison term from 28 to a little more than 21 years in federal prison.
"With good time and all that, he might have a sentence of 15 years, all of which is a very, very long time," Powell said.
The woman who was the face of the "Kids for Cash" crisis says that's not long enough.
Sandy Fonzo says Ciavarella should never leave federal prison. She blames her son's suicide on the months Ciavarella sent him to juvenile jail for possessing a small amount of marijuana.
"I'm outraged and disgusted because it is hard for me and the kids who live through this to put it behind them, and instead they have to relive it," said Fonzo.
"It actually made me a stronger person and a better man," Armitage said.
Raheem Armitage has a full-time job and has moved on from the time Judge Ciavarella sent him to juvenile jail.
"My parents taught me not to have any regrets, kind of embrace my failures and all things that went wrong."
Federal prosecutors have not decided if they will retry Ciavarella on the three vacated convictions.
If they do, there will be a new federal judge. Edwin Kosik, who presided at Ciavarella's trial in 2011 and sentenced him, is now 92 years old and no longer presides over court cases.
