Builder: Ex-Pa. judge agreed h

SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) - The builder of two private juvenile detention facilities says he paid "referral fees" to a former Pennsylvania judge charged with jailing juvenile offenders in return for kickbacks.

Robert Mericle testified Wednesday at the trial of former Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella (shiv-uh-REL'-uh). Prosecutors say Ciavarella was part of a $2.8 million "kids for cash" scheme in which he locked up juvenile offenders at detention facilities Mericle built.

Mericle told the court that he visited Ciavarella in his courthouse office and said he wouldn't have had the opportunity to build the facilities without Ciavarella. Mericle testified that Ciavarella agreed he should be paid as a result.

The state Supreme Court threw out thousands of juvenile convictions issued by Ciavarella, saying he disregarded the constitutional rights of the defendants.