“Goodfella's” Actor Is Reportedly Miffed By “The Electric City” Queries              

By   Robert A. Young

The Associated Press, AP, recently reported that 72 year old character actor and journeyman director Paul Sorvino, (who originally hails from Brooklyn, N.Y., and is known for portraying cops and mobsters of the underworld on the silver screen), garnered an advance for a half- million dollars of “Keystone State” taxpayer’s money to produce a film in the Scranton/Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania area six years ago. (1)  

The lengthy filming process was a family affair.   Sorvino directed it, and he appears in the movie along with his daughter and son, who actually produced the flick.   Another daughter wrote the script. (1) Both Sorvino and his daughter Mira are honorary Lackawanna County Deputy Sheriffs, and the family has property in the Pocono Mountains of Monroe County, PA and Los Angeles, California.    

An AP story in early 2007 reported that the honorary deputy Paul Sorvino interceded by pulling a gun out during a domestic dispute between his younger daughter Amanda and a male who was subsequently arrested by local police for a  minor charge occurring in a Stowe, Vermont hotel. (2) Sorvino was not charged in the matter because a local police chief stated as a deputy he was entitled to carry. (2)  Under the federal Law Enforcement Officer’s Safety Act, qualified officers are allowed to carry a firearm across state lines and across the nation without local prohibitions to the contrary.

According to the AP, Sorvino’s first film, titled; “The Trouble With Cali”, finally is scheduled to debut at the Sedona Film Festival in Arizona after costs skyrocketed, cash dwindled, and appropriate public interest questions were raised as to the current viability of the highly protracted citizen-backed investment. (1) .

The long anticipated movie deal was once touted as an opportunity for the economically distressed Luzerne/Lackawanna County coal region of the “Rust Belt” to be the next possible destination for aspiring film production.   It was even widely reported that former Lackawanna commissioner Robert C. Cordaro supported the publically funded movie project as far back as 2005. 

But, according to the Times Tribune, in January 2012; Cordaro was sentenced to eleven years in federal prison after being convicted of eighteen counts of extortion, racketeering and money laundering, and he was additionally slapped with tens of thousands of dollars of fines and restitution. (3)

The U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Middle District of Pennsylvania’s website indicates that between 2009 and the present date, over thirty (30) defendants have been prosecuted for political corruption in this region of Northeastern PA, including three Common Pleas Court Judges, two County Commissioners and a State Senator.  (4)        

In response to recent queries as to the status of the film by antsy politicians from the once indictment- beleaguered Lackawanna county seat; “The Electric City of Scranton, PA”,  Sorvino, ( of the classic mob movie “Goodfella’s” and policing t.v.show "Law and Order"  fame), according to the AP, “…was stunned and hurt that anyone would question his integrity.” (1)     

Former and disgraced Lackawanna County Commissioner Robert C. Cordaro reportedly is listed on screen as a producer of “The Trouble With Cali”, which is already having problems, receiving bad reviews prompting some residents to experience angst about their investment on what detractors say may turn out to be a flop after all .(5)  

In the aftermath of destructive flooding losses and damage recently,this economically challenged region of Northeastern Pennsylvania is in the "marcellus shale play", and it has been widely reported lately that an unprecedented 38% property tax increase imposed on Lackawanna County homeowners will take effect this year, if the newly elected commissioners do not reconsider the extreme hike in the wake of facing substantial budget shortfalls, which further exacerbate critics concerns about the original decision to commit to a risky $500,000 movie wager using public funds for the private Sorvino family’s six year effort without any payback returned to the community as of yet.  

Footnote Sources: 

       1-Associated Press, Allentown, PA;  Sorvino, To Debut Film Funded By Pennsylvania Taxpayers,

 02-21-12.

2- Associated Press, Stroudsburg, PA , 01-16-07, Paul Sorvino Pulls Gun On Daughter’s Ex.

3-Times Tribune Newspaper.  Scranton/Wilkes Barre, PA, Former Lackawanna County Commissioners Robert C. Cordaro and A.J. Munchak Sentences…, By Borys Krawczeniuk.

4-      U.S. Attorney’s Office, Middle District of PA. website.

5-      Times Tribune Newspaper, 02-22-12, Early Reviews Are In And “Cali” Is Indeed In Trouble, By Chris Kelly.  02-25-12, 02-26-12: Times Tribune.

Robert A. Young of Rome, Bradford County Northeastern Pennsylvania,  in the Marcellus Shale,  is a retired Philadelphia Police investigator, instructor and freelance writer of energy and public affairs featuring literary pieces in varied formats around the nation.