LCRA head agrees to guilty plea: Allen Bellas, arrested for accepting kickback from construction contractor, will cooperate with investigators.

Oct. 16--Luzerne County Redevelopment Authority Executive Director Allen Bellas has agreed to plead guilty to accepting a $2,000 bribe in exchange for helping a construction contractor secure approval of a program that funds some development costs.

This Tax Incremental Financing program, commonly known as a TIF, uses property tax revenue from new construction to pay for infrastructure improvements needed to develop the site.

Bellas, who could not be reached for comment, marketed TIF projects to both the authority board and taxing bodies.

Taxing bodies have to vote to divert the taxes to infrastructure, and the authority assists with the infrastructure loans and receives management fees to help oversee the TIF programs, authority representatives say.

The federal charges say:

Bellas met with a contractor and associate of a consulting company at the authority's West Pittston office in late 2007 to discuss a proposed TIF.

Bellas then met with a township planning commission to recommend approval of a TIF to benefit the contractor, and the TIF was awarded in late 2007.

Around September 2008, Bellas "knowingly, intentionally and corruptly" accepted $2,000 in cash from this contractor as a reward for the awarding of the TIF.

The plea agreement, filed Thursday, requires Bellas to resign from the redevelopment authority and his seat on the Wyoming Valley West School Board within 10 days of entering his guilty plea in court.

Sentencing guidelines call for a sentence of four to 10 months, but a judge could sentence Bellas up to the maximum, which is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Under the plea agreement, Bellas has agreed to cooperate with investigators by providing information concerning the unlawful activity of others.

"The defendant understands and agrees that complete and truthful cooperation is a material condition of this agreement," it says.

Authority Chairman Paul Paternoster learned about the plea agreement from a reporter.

"Naturally I'm upset," Paternoster said.

He said he's baffled that people are willing to risk their careers and reputations for a kickback.

"Why he would do something like this is beyond me, to ruin your life for $2,000?" Paternoster said.

The federal charges don't identify the contractor.

The authority approved two TIF programs at the end of 2007, both involving town homes.

The first was the Insignia Point Courtyards townhome project in Jenkins Township. The other was the Grandview Drive housing development project in Pittston Township, now known as Stauffer Pointe.

Local developer Anthony Trombetta was involved in the Insignia Point project. He owns Intellacom, a computer and security system company that has been investigated by the FBI in recent months in connection with its school district contracts.

Trombetta could not be reached for comment. The phone at Intellacom has been disconnected.

Joseph Nocito, Bellas' attorney, said Thursday that he has no comment at this time.

The redevelopment authority had unanimously voted Tuesday to suspend Bellas without pay, based on Bellas' previous communication that he intended to resign because he was "in trouble." Bellas had been using his paid vacation time from Sept. 30 until Tuesday, authority representatives say.

County minority Commissioner Stephen A. Urban said he believes the board should refuse to accept Bellas' resignation and terminate him from the $59,000-a-year position.

"He admitted to doing something related to his job," Urban said. "The board should take action to ensure that he does not get his pension because he violated the public trust."

Commissioners appoint the authority's five board members but don't control board actions.

Authority Solicitor Garry Taroli said Thursday that the board will discuss the status of Bellas' employment at Tuesday's monthly meeting.

Bellas was appointed authority executive director in August 2004, even though he had been arrested several months earlier on charges of drunken driving while in a vehicle owned by the authority. He previously served as assistant executive director.

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