A federal judge is recommending former state Senate Democratic Leader Robert J. Mellow serve his prison sentence at a federal penitentiary in Wayne County.
In an order issued Monday, U.S. District Judge Joel H. Slomsky requested the career politician from Blakely be allowed to spend his 16- month sentence at U.S. Penitentiary-Canaan, which is near Waymart.
Mr. Mellow pleaded guilty in May to conspiracy to commit mail fraud for using taxpayer-paid Senate staffers to do political campaign work for him and others and for filing a bogus tax return that under-reported how much money he made when he sold the building housing his Senate office in the Peckville section of Blakely.
Judge Slomsky sentenced him on Nov. 30 in federal court in Scranton. The judge also ordered him to pay a $40,000 fine, a $100 special assessment, and the $79,806.17 of state taxpayer money that federal prosecutors determined through a plea agreement with his attorneys he used to have Senate staffers do his political bidding.
Monday's order does not state why Mr. Mellow should be imprisoned near home.
At his sentencing hearing, Mr. Mellow's attorneys argued that he should not be sent to prison because he needs to be able to care for his 39-year-old daughter, Melissa Mellow, who suffers from a form of muscular dystrophy and has psychological problems including severe anxiety.
Judge Slomsky recommended Mr. Mellow be allowed to serve out his sentence at a prison near Northeast Pennsylvania.
Mr. Mellow's attorney, Sal Cognetti Jr., said Monday's order was merely a "clarification" of the judge's original intention to be more specific and recommend Mr. Mellow be imprisoned locally.
The federal Bureau of Prisons, which oversees the U.S. penitentiary system, will make the final determination of where Mr. Mellow is housed, despite the judge's recommendation. Under bureau policy, it does not to reveal where an inmate is slated to be imprisoned before that happens, said spokeswoman Victoria Joseph.
The bureau must also determine whether the prison is full, among other considerations, such as if Mr. Mellow requires special medical treatment that would not be available at U.S. Penitentiary-Canaan, she said.
That prison has a high security area and a satellite camp, housing male minimum security inmates.
Mr. Mellow must report to the prison designated by the bureau before 2 p.m. on Jan. 15.
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