Published: February 17, 2011

http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/court-mellow-target-of-extortion-money-laundering-probe-1.1106465#axzz1EGkTVy9h

A federal grand jury is investigating former state Sen. Robert Mellow for extortion, money laundering, fraud and related offenses, a federal appeals court said Wednesday.

The existence of the federal probe has been known since June 18, when FBI and IRS agents raided Mr. Mellow's home and office, but the reason surfaced in an opinion filed by the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia.

In an 11-page opinion, the court rejected attempts by Mr. Mellow's attorney to have the documents filed in connection with the search warrants unsealed.

Last month in Philadelphia, Scranton lawyer Sal Cognetti argued the records should be unsealed, saying Mr. Mellow "has a right to know why they are searching," though he admitted the search warrant indicated it involved "political campaign work,"

Mr. Mellow's grand jury case wound up before the 3rd Circuit after Senior U.S. District Court Judge A. Richard Caputo denied a motion filed on behalf of Mr. Mellow to have the documents unsealed and an appeal was filed by Mr. Cognetti.

In dismissing Mr. Cognetti's appeal, the 3rd Circuit said it lacked jurisdiction. In reviewing the case, the appeals court said the U.S. attorney's office had argued that unsealing the affidavit of probable cause that investigators filed to obtain the search warrant would cause the identities of "confidential informants to be revealed, expose individuals and businesses to public obloquy though charges against them may never be brought, cause the release of confidential grand jury and tax information ..."

Prosecutors also argued that if they disclosed the information Mr. Mellow was seeking before an indictment was filed, Mr. Mellow would would know the "precise areas of inquiry into which the investigation was looking, thereby facilitating (Mr. Mellow's) and other subjects' obstruction of the investigation."

On the day Mr. Mellow's home in Archbald and office in Peckville were raided, agents also searched the Lake Spangenberg home of Gabriel J. Giordano, a former Mellow aide and business partner who has been linked to the Peckville office in which Mr. Mellow had an ownership stake while collecting rent paid by taxpayers.

Mr. Mellow retired after 40 years in the state Senate, including more than two decades in leadership roles. During his years in Harrisburg, he was known for steering state aid back to his home district, including securing the initial $35 million state commitment for the Commonwealth Medical College.

But he also became entangled in ethics controversies, ranging from questions about the family-related rental of his Peckville Senate office to his paid membership on the board of Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Mr. Mellow has not been charged with a crime or cited by any agency for wrongdoing.