Leo Glodzik actually returned this car in this conditon to a 78 year old lady
Glodzik crushed the car - she didn't
3) Captain Bob Hughes of the WBPD. He was legally entitled to tows cars on one end and also had a licence to sell them on the back end. Hard to fathom this money making machine.
4) Former WB Mayor Tom Leighton. He obviously benefited from LAG Towing in that it was alleged he was receiving kickbacks. Nearly every deal he was involved in was shady. The list is long.
5) Pa State Police Commander James Degnan who as commander of the local PSP orchestrated a cover up for our current DA's DUI. Not only did he protect Salavantis... but the troopers were obviously given a gag order. How are we to trust those that cover up?
Car that Glodzik stole from Senta Boyer. I ended up paying for a new car for this lady who was stranded with two kids.
6) Stefanie Salavantis our DA. She knew about LAG Towing before she even began (I have e mail to prove it).. She is incompetent and was guilty of a DUI which was miraculously tossed. She tossed 40 plus DUI cases for no reason. She is an embarrassment to the job. She is also know to be a heavy drinker.
Corruption entwined (Salavantis and G Dessoye)
7) Sam Sanguedolce who is the Assistant DA. He too covered up for the Salavantis DUI and has (without merit) tossed DUI cases from his own firm (huge conflict of interest). He is known to be a monstrous drinker. He threw out every complaint made against Glodzik (from citizens).
8) Leo Glodzik of LAG Towing. I rate him down here because it was the older and wiser men that allowed him to steal (my estimate) 1,000 cars. He did not act alone.
Dessoye hid in a spider hole while WB chief.
Consequences: $85,000 at Kings so he can watch the co-eds as security Chief
9) The woman who fudged the forms for Glodzik. (Is this our current chief?)
10) President Judge Dick Hughes. He was going door to door with Salavantis 4 years ago. As a top republican he had to know about the DUI. If he did, he is guilty of a cover up. There is also no quality checks on Magistrates. The people should not have have to stand before drunks. Dick Hughes settled my dad's estate. The cost? $125,000 This is nuts.
TIMES LEADER: Leo A. Glodzik III to plead guilty to charges of mail fraud, filing false income tax return
First Posted: 2:48 pm - March 31st, 2016 Updated: 6:25 pm - March 31st, 2016.
By Joe Dolinsky and Jerry Lynott - jdolinsky@timesleader.com and jlynott@timesleader.com
Tow truck driver Leo Glodzik III walks to his sentencing on theft charges in May 2014 at the Luzerne County Courthouse in Wilkes-Barre. Glodzik is now expected to plead guilty to federal mail fraud, tax evasion and weapons charges under an agreement with authorities to avoid further prosecution in a case involving the Wilkes-Barre City Employee Federal Credit Union.
WILKES-BARRE — Federal prosecutors have agreed to drop bank fraud charges against Leo A. Glodzik III as part of a deal that will see the embattled former city towing contractor plead guilty to a new set of charges.
Glodzik, 45, of 1009 Morgan Drive, Wilkes-Barre, was charged in a new criminal information Thursday with mail fraud, being a felon in possession of a firearm and filing false tax returns as a result of an exclusive towing contract between Glodzik’s LAG Transport, Inc., and the City of Wilkes-Barre, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced.
Glodzik is also charged in the new criminal information with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. The charge was part of an indictment previously returned by a federal grand jury in April.
Prosecutors say bank fraud charges in the Wilkes-Barre City Employees Federal Credit Union case will be dismissed in exchange for Glodzik’s plea.
Glodzik’s attorney, Joseph F. Sklarosky Sr., did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
A court date for entering the plea has yet to be scheduled.
The charges allege Glodzik concocted a scheme (he charged illegally high prices to secure that cars and ridiculous daily fees to keep them) to rip off vehicle owners by charging excessive fees or by hindering access to vehicles that were placed in storage in an effort to extract additional fees. To discharge the fees, owners would sign over their title to LAG or Glodzik. (Glodzik would scare the poor owners that they would lose their credit etc...)
Prosecutors say Glodzik then used procedures administered through PennDOT to transfer the vehicles’ ownership, but claimed in forms submitted through the U.S. Postal Service the vehicles’ values were much lower than their actual cost. (Lowballing the (stolen) cars freed Glodzik of paperwork) The action resulted in Glodzik being able to avoid legal advertisement of abandoned vehicles and payments to the state of money received for vehicles sold at auctions that were above and beyond Glodzik’s own business costs, making Glodzik a profit in the process, prosecutors allege.
Glodzik falsified his tax return when he claimed zero taxable income in 2008 when, in fact, his actual taxable income for that year was allegedly $408,618, according to prosecutors.
He faces a maximum penalty of 33 years in prison and/or fines totaling $750,000, as well as three years supervised release, prosecution costs, denial of benefits and a $300 assessment, prosecutors said.
City officials for years had raised concerns about Glodzik and LAG’s exclusive contract with the city.
“There was a lot of red flags,” recalled Mayor Tony George.
The former city councilman said he’d heard complaints from people who dealt with LAG and brought them up at council meetings. At one point, he was called into City Hall and told to leave Glodzik and LAG alone, he told the Times Leader Thursday. (This is a powerful statement as it directly links Leighton into criminal activity. Word was widspread that Leighton was taking kickbacks from Glodzik). Yet he pushed for records that were supposed to be provided monthly to the city by LAG and was told there weren’t any.
“That’s the biggest red flag there is,” George said. “How can you not have records?”
It wasn’t his intent to have Glodzik arrested or charged, George said. (Why the hell would you let a car thief go, Tony George?)
“I just wanted him to get out of the contract,” George said. “I thought he was taking advantage of the people he was towing.”
On the opposite side of the railing separating council from the public, City Wide Towing owner Bob Kadluboski often spoke out against Glodzik and the administration of former Mayor Tom Leighton on the LAG contract.
Kadluboski had the contract before LAG.
“Leo Glodzik did not get away with his scheme by himself,” Kadluboski said. “There’s more people involved.”
Kadluboski said he intends to bring “some concerns” to the attention of U.S. Attorney Peter Smith in Scranton next week. Kadluboski added that he will have more to say in a press conference next week with Frank Sorick, president of the Wilkes-Barre City Taxpayers Association.
Despite resistance from prosecutors, a Luzerne County judge on Sept. 22 granted parole to Glodzik and granted him release from Luzerne County Correctional Facility, where he was being held for a theft conviction since June.
A county jury in May 2014 convicted Glodzik of allegations he stole $2,100 in bait money that he believed to be seized drug money and tried to share part of the cash with a state trooper posing as a “dirty” cop.
Glodzik’s trial on the bank fraud charges was scheduled to begin Monday.
According to the indictment in that case, former Wilkes-Barre City Employee Federal Credit Union assistant manager Amanda Magda in March 2012 witnessed a loan document for former city police officer Tino Ninotti which he acquired using the signature of his brother, Dino, who was in Afghanistan at the time.
Tino Ninotti said the loan would be used to purchase a Dodge Ram pickup truck from Glodzik, prosecutors say. However, the money was never put to such use and the vehicle identification number (VIN) associated with the vehicle, provided to the credit union by Ninotti, proved fraudulent.
Further, the VIN associated with a vehicle Ninotti used as collateral was fraudulent as well, prosecutors say. Glodzik allegedly provided Ninotti with both numbers.
A federal grand jury indicted Magda, Ninotti and Glodzik, along with former city police officer Jason Anthony and credit union member Jeffrey Serafin, in August 2014.
The conviction cost Glodzik his towing contract with the city.
Ninotti, Anthony and Serafin pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit bank fraud.
Serafin was sentenced to time served and three years supervised release, while sentencings for Ninnoti and Anthony were continued earlier this week.
The new plea agreement, meanwhile, says prosecutors won’t pursue further criminal charges against Glodzik regarding the credit union case, effectively ending years of legal sparring between Glodzik and authorities.
Travis Kellar, staff writer, contributed to this report.
Reach Joe Dolinsky at 570-991-6110 or on Twitter @JoeDolinsky TL and reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott.2 Comments
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Mark M Robbins ·
The Times Leader reporter,Joe Dolinsky, is new (and a great guy)... but a lot of of pieces are missing. So let me accurately say that this all started in June of 2012 when I met with Kobby. City officials did NOTHING for 2 years. I gained traction when I paid money for my owm lie detector test regarding treatment received from Wilkes-Barre cops. Tony George listened to me eventually... but was hardly on fire. He told me cops were getting $ 50 per tow. At this time I was upset that he was not more aggressive as a former police chief. I put together flowcharts of the LAG Towing scheme and collected the doctored vehicle reports. Two FBI agents were in my home and were astonished at the work I put into this. The papers could pile 7 feet high. I also too the picture of the illegally driven Dodge Ram that started Credit Union gate. BOTTOM LINE: An estimated 1,000 cars were stolen. Leo Glodzik had a "junkie mind set and this was confirmed whem I read her was receiving substance abuse counseling.
It seems to be a long time coming and a guilty plea is an admission of guilt, something that many have complained about over the years when it was time to collect their vehicles from LAG. Only one person really pushed and pursed it very hard. I do think Mark M Robbins gets much of the credit for getting this in the news and being relentless in his pursuit of the dealings of LAG towing and its owner Mr. Glodzik. I hope that those that were ripped off can get some satisfaction and perhaps pursue civil lawsuits against Glodzik and LAG towing to recover something back. Although I do think the IRS will be taking theirs first.
Tedd Max Leighton cronies have taken shots at Robbins for years. Guess who came out on top?
Hugh Malikowski It is sad that one citizen (Robbins) has taken so much upon his shoulders - against the steep headwind of corruption - and all he get's is "Thank You." Praise God that he send people like Mark to this earth.
Cyndi Smith Glodzik did not act alone. there are others.
Fran Sorenson. I so much admire the courage of Robbins who started with nothing... the scammers tried to label him as crazy. And now this!! Bravo.
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