By Bob Kalinowski
The Times-Tribune
WILKES-BARRE — Prosecutors say inmates James Dormio and John Ricci implicated suspended prison guard Jason Fierman in a sweeping drug investigation during grand jury testimony in 2010.
On the witness stand at Mr. Fierman’s trial on Tuesday, the convicts claimed they couldn’t remember their past accusations. They then sparred with the prosecutor who called them as witnesses in the commonwealth’s case.
Mr. Ricci said he must have made a “mistake” if he told investigators that he sold cocaine to Mr. Fierman, claiming he didn’t know him. With Mr. Fierman sitting directly in front of him, Mr. Dormio scanned the courtroom for a few moments when asked to identify the defendant.
“Don’t see him,” he said.
Mr. Dormio, 53, who is serving up to 48 months in state prison for multiple theft convictions and an indecent exposure charge, later said he had no recollection of telling investigators that Mr. Fierman smuggled prescription drugs to him inside the Luzerne County Correctional Facility between 2006 and 2008.
“I’m not going to say I lied then. I don’t remember. I can’t tell you last night what I had for supper,” Mr. Dormio said. “I have been doing drugs my whole life. I did severe cognitive damage to my brain. I’m a hard-core junkie.”
State narcotics agents arrested Mr. Fierman, 38, of Dallas Twp., and three other employees of the Luzerne County Correctional Facility in March 2011 as part of an investigation dubbed “Operation Broken Trust.” The arrest, prosecutors said, stemmed from a previous attorney general’s drug operation that targeted the Outlaws Motorcycle Club and landed Mr. Ricci in jail for seven to 14 years.
Full story: Inmates deny implicating suspended prison guard during trial testimony Tuesday