Last Friday, a jury found a former Pennsylvania judge accused of sending large numbers of children to detention centers in exchange for kickbacks from the builder of the detention guilty on 12 counts of money laundering and conspiracy.

The jury also acquitted the defendant, Mark Ciavarella, on 27 counts, including extortion. Click herefor the AP story; herefor the story from the Scranton Times-Tribune; herefor the story from the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader.

But the jury verdict hardly ended the drama.

Ciavarella was allowed to remain free pending sentencing after the conviction Friday. And after the verdict, he made rather strident statements to the media outside the courthouse.

"Never took a dime to send a kid anywhere. ... Never happened. Never, ever happened. This case was about extortions and kickbacks, not about 'kids for cash,'" said Ciavarella, who plans to appeal.