Some news outta Luzerne County, one of two judges on trial have plead out to racketeering charges.
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=12..._to_RICO_Charge

Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. & Michael T. Conahan, apparently known as "Scooch" & "the Boss" respectively. They seem to have had financial interests in certain privately owned Juvenile Detention Centre's. By sentencing young offenders to time, they were effectively drumming up business & received money for their efforts, something in the area of 2.8 mill. according to the indictment. This is along with a litany of horrendous cases of gross misconduct & abuse of authority.

Conahan (who has made the recent guilty plea) is feared by some to be "singing like a bird", as referenced in the above link & quoted below. To elaborate, his plea deal has some fearing he could well be cooperating. Quote:
"The sentiment from several sources upon reviewing the plea deal was: "He must be singing like a bird." If so, sources said, the government will most likely expect Conahan to name lawyers or others involved in the case-fixing that allegedly went on in the courthouse. Sources close to the investigation have confirmed for months now that a number of lawyers are under federal scrutiny and some are talking." - by Hank Grezlak and Leo Strupczewski for The Legal Intelligencer

What does all this have to do with Big Billy D'Elia, Mr. Bufalino Family himself? Conahan was named in Federal Court testimony as a close friend of Mr D'Elia for a number of years. http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/79287147.html

It definitely seemed D'Elia was very selective in his "co-operation". By very likely telling the Courts the truth for once, corroborating a friendship between Louis DeNaples, Russel Bufalino & that Priest in the middle, he allowed to Feds to succesfully catch DeNaples on perjury charges & likely shaved years of his own sentence of 9 years. He is considered to have co-operated, but surely he could have sent more people to jail if he had been so inclined. If he was strong, respected & earning enough to be left alone all those years by New York & the like, you know ther had to have been many more he could have taken down.

Conahan's plea is a ripple now but later waves may have potential to 'cause headaches for some, includind D'Elia.
Although he (Conahan) may well remain stauch after all, developments are yet to be seen.