First Posted: 8/24/2009

SCRANTON — U.S. District Judge has scheduled Sept. 2 as the date he’ll accept a guilty plea from Luzerne County real estate developer Robert K. Mericle.

The hearing will take place at 1 p.m. in Kosik’s courtroom at the federal courthouse in Scranton.

Mericle, 46, of Jackson Township, signed an agreement to plead guilty with federal prosecutors July 31. If he abides by the agreement he’ll enter a guilty plea on a single count of witholding information on a crime for his role in the juvenile justice scandal that has already brought down two county judges and a prominent attorney.

The offense carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison, but Mericle likely faces no more than four to 10 months based of federal sentencing guidelines.  

To read the complete story, see Tuesday’s edition of The Times Leader and www.timesleader.com.