Former Pennsylvania Firefighter Convicted of Arson
SCRANTON, Pa. -- After more than five hours of deliberation, a Lackawanna County jury found former Scranton firefighter Tom Gervasi guilty Wednesday evening on 14 criminal charges, including multiple counts of arson and related offenses.
Gervasi was charged with the crimes, which also included insurance fraud and criminal mischief, in connection with a June 2008 fire at a garage he owned in East Scranton.
After a trial that lasted eight days, the jury returned a verdict to Judge Margaret Moyle at approximately 6:45 p.m. After the reading of the verdict, Moyle ordered that Gervasi be immediately remanded to custody, with the opportunity to post $250,000 straight bail. She added that if Gervasi is able to make bail, he must be released on house arrest until his sentencing, scheduled for 90 days from the end of his trial.
Moyle cited the fact that Gervasi owns properties in other states, as well as his status as a convicted criminal, as reasons for having him placed into custody.
As Lackawanna County Sheriff deputies led Gervasi from the courtroom, his girlfriend -- identified only as Mary Ellen -- had an emotional outburst after deputies prevented her from approaching Gervasi. After being led to a waiting area by family and friends, the woman continued crying and screaming uncontrollably, promoting deputies to call for paramedics.
"They're scum," the woman screamed repeatedly in a hallway outside the courtroom, describing residents of several buildings that were damaged in the same fire Gervasi was charged with setting. "We've had three years of this nightmare!
"He's gone forever," she yelled about Gervasi, choking back tears in the arms of relatives. "We'll never get him back."
The woman was removed from the Lackawanna County Courthouse by paramedics just after 7:45 p.m., and was taken to an undisclosed area hospital for evaluation.
As Gervasi's girlfriend was being loaded on a gurney into the back of an ambulance, an unidentified man accompanying her physically confronted a news cameraman from WBRE-TV, trying to shield the ambulance from view. After the two played a game of cat-and-mouse for several seconds with traffic on North Washington Avenue, deputies separated the pair, and the remaining bystanders left peacefully.
Earlier in the evening, the same individual engaged in a verbal sparring match with deputies inside the courtroom, criticizing the deputies as they tried to restrain Gervasi's girlfriend from approaching him after being remanded to custody.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service