PAUL R. WEAKLEY PLEADS GUILTY TO RICO CONSPIRACY

Martin C. Carlson, Acting United States Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania; Jacqueline Musto Carroll, Luzerne County District Attorney; Captain Donald C. Peters and Lieutenant Frank Hacken, Pennsylvania State Police; and Tony Robbins, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, joined together today to announce that Paul R. Weakley has pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to engage in the affairs of a criminal enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity, a charge commonly referred to as “RICO conspiracy.” The guilty plea was entered before United States District Court Judge Thomas I. Vanaskie.

In his guilty plea, Weakley admitted that he, and others, conspired to associate with a criminal enterprise that engaged in numerous and wide-ranging criminal acts, including: trafficking in controlled substances within a United States Penitentiary; conspiracy to obstruct justice through juror intimidation; the robbery and murder of Michael J. Kerkowski and Tammy Fassett in Luzerne County in May of 2002; multiple robberies, including a home invasion robbery committed in Monroe County in January of 2003; unlawful weapons possession and use; attempted theft; multiple burglaries; and arson of a motor vehicle. As a result of his guilty plea, Weakley faces a potential sentence of life in prison.

The RICO conspiracy charge resulted from an extensive investigation conducted by the Luzerne County District Attorney’s Office, the Pennsylvania State Police, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Internal Revenue Service.

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