A Pennsylvania congressman nominated to be the nation’s “drug czar” has a controversial past, including allegedly judge-shopping to expunge a friend’s cocaine-dealing charge before going to work for a felon whose business interests he assisted as his office had an open investigation.
Rep. Tom Marino, a former elected county prosecutor and U.S. attorney, was under consideration earlier this year to lead the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy to the point that CBS News reported in April he was in the final stages of completing paperwork.
Marino’s name was dropped from consideration in May under circumstances that remain murky, after issues from his past resurfaced in the press. His office initially refused to comment, but Marino later told local publications his mother had a serious heart condition.
“I can’t live in D.C. Monday through Friday,” he said. “I have to be here for my mother.”
However, Marino said he would remain a member of Congress to “continue to support President Trump in whatever way I can.”
Marino chief of staff Sara Rogers did not immediately respond to a request for comment on why Marino again decided to pursue the office and whether he views the scandals as legitimate questions ahead of Senate confirmation hearings.
In 1998, Marino — then an elected district attorney — hand-delivered to a judge a request to clear the criminal record of northern Pennsylvania car dealer Jay Kilheeney, who was convicted six years earlier of distributing 2 grams of cocaine. Marino described Kilheeney as a friend.
Lycoming County Common Pleas Judge Dudley Anderson, in his first year on the bench, granted the expungement. But he changed his mind upon learning he was asked less than three weeks after a more senior judge, Kenneth Brown, denied the request.
“Maybe I shouldn’t comment on all this because I’m the dupe,” Anderson joked earlier this year. Although the order was rescinded, Kilheeney reportedly kept a copy that he used to open a Ford dealership. He went on to commit several more crimes.
In 2006, Marino — then a U.S. attorney — served as a reference for businessman and convicted felon Louis DeNaples, who sought successfully to open a casino. The Associated Press reported Marino’s office was investigating DeNaples at the time of his reference. He resigned shortly after and worked for DeNaples, earning a reported $250,000 salary before running for Congress.
Marino has consistently denied doing anything improper in either instance.
Both issues were raised by then-Rep. Christopher Carney, D-Pa., during Marino’s successful run for Congress in 2010.
Bill Piper, senior director of national affairs at the Drug Policy Alliance, told the Washington Examiner he believes Marino’s past will be raised during Senate confirmation hearings.
“We thought he was gone,” Piper said. “We thought the opposition we raised made him think twice. It’s possible they dug him back up because they couldn’t find anyone else.”
Piper foresees questions about whether his friend was given preferential treatment relative to what Marino would recommend for the average cocaine-dealing convict. He said the group intends to oppose Marino’s nomination on policy grounds, though it has not yet been able to strategize with allied senators — as the nomination was announced at 6 p.m. on the Friday of Labor Day weekend.
The drug czar position is charged with shepherding national anti-drug abuse efforts, with much of the job’s power being its bully pulpit and a statutory role guiding the anti-drug budgeting of other federal agencies.
The office, led since January by acting directors, does administer two large grant programs: the High Density Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program that funds regional law enforcement task forces and Drug-Free Communities, which funds drug use prevention programs.
“The most important issue for ONDCP and the director is that they operate in a bipartisan manner,” said Regina LaBelle, chief of staff of the drug czar office during the Obama administration.
LaBelle declined to directly address Marino’s past, but said “senators should seek assurances” from the early Trump supporter “that he will retain the bipartisan nature of the office and seek to reduce stigma, increase treatment and prevention, and that public safety efforts be directed at disrupting drug trafficking networks.”
In addition to his colorful history, Marino is likely to face questions about his support of successful 2016 legislation critics say limits the Drug Enforcement Administration’s ability to crack down on pharmacies over-dispensing medicine.
Fueling potential opposition, Marino is a steadfast foe of marijuana reform, voting against measures that would allow veterans easier access to medical pot and protect state cannabis laws. And he once recommended drug addicts be booked into what he called “hospital-slash-prison.”
“His endorsement of hospital-prisons is frightening,” Piper said.
Although he’s not sure opponents can stop Marino, Piper says the office might be seen as a low priority, noting the Trump administration considered eliminating or defunding by 95 percent the post earlier this year.
“We arguably don’t even need a drug czar,” he said. “The White House was talking about cutting the drug czar’s budget earlier this year before they chickened out.”
