Donation to Barletta Noted

The list of contributors to Republican congressional candidate Lou Barletta includes two brothers who were once entangled in a southern Luzerne County cocaine-distribution ring but are now prominent businessmen there.

Paul and Neal DeAngelo, the owners of DBi Services Inc., each gave Mr. Barletta $1,000 on March 28.

History

In 1994, Paul DeAngelo was sentenced to 18 months in jail for his role in the Empire drug ring, which operated in the late 1980s. He was released in 1995.

As a government witness in the trial of another ring member, Neal DeAngelo, who was not charged, testified that Luzerne County Judge Michael T. Conahan called him in 1986 to say Paul DeAngelo was doing business with a cocaine dealer who was being investigated. The judge, according to the testimony, offered to put them in touch with a Florida dealer, Neal DeAngelo testified.

Judge Conahan was never charged in the case.

Mr. Barletta, the Hazleton mayor, said he won’t return the contributions and ripped the campaign of Democratic U.S. Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski, D-Nanticoke, for shopping the story to reporters.

“I’ll tell you what. You tell Paul Kanjorski for me, I’ll donate $1,000 to a charity of my choice if he sends the $10 million in taxpayer dollars he gave to his nephews back to the taxpayers,” Mr. Barletta said.

Mr. Barletta was referring to $9.2 million in federal earmarks obtained by Mr. Kanjorski that wound up with Cornerstone Technologies, a now-defunct technology company owned and operated by Mr. Kanjorski’s daughter and nephews. Mr. Kanjorski acknowledges obtaining the money but contends the company obtained it through a legitimate bidding process.

“These two guys (the DeAngelos) made a mistake,” Mr. Barletta said. “They paid their dues, and through honest, hard work, they built a business that is one of the biggest in Hazleton.”

Business ties

DBi Services manages vegetation that grows along highways and railroad tracks and at industrial sites. It also has divisions that manage storm water and paint traffic lines on highways, roads and parking lots.

In 2000, DBi bought its line-painting division from Mr. Barletta and his wife, Mary Grace, who over the previous 16 years had built their Interstate Road Markings Co. into what Pavement Maintenance Magazine said was the sixth-largest of its kind in the nation. The sale amount was undisclosed.

On the state Department of State Web site, which lists the background of corporations, Mrs. Barletta is listed as treasurer for the new company, Interstate Road Management Corp.

Mr. Barletta said that listing is wrong, and the company will have to correct it. He and his wife have had no role in the company since they sold it, the mayor said.

No interest in the company is listed for either the mayor or his wife on his federal candidate financial disclosure form.

“I’m not involved with them personally,” he said.

Mr. Barletta honored the DeAngelos recently with an official proclamation commemorating their 30 years in business, saying they should be commended for their “hard work and dedication.”

With headquarters in Hazleton, the company has 34 locations across the country and two in Canada and employs more than 1,000 people, including more than 300 in the Hazleton area.

“Paul Kanjorski wants to drag these guys through the mud,” Mr. Barletta said. “Paul Kanjorski should be trying to get more companies like DBi to our area.”

Efforts to reach the DeAngelos and their lawyer, attorney Donald H. Brobst, were unsuccessful.

Kanjorski reaction

Ed Mitchell, Mr. Kanjorski’s campaign media consultant, said the campaign would have no comment, but said, “We did not contact any member of the media about this story. We have nothing to do with it, despite the questions raised by it.”

Mr. Barletta said Mr. Kanjorski should be concentrating on real issues such as high gasoline prices instead of bringing the DeAngelos into their contest.

“He wants to bring this stuff up,” the mayor said. “What the heck does this have to do with the price of gas?”