Musto Carroll announces bid for DA: Currently the first assistant district attorney, she would be the first woman to hold the top post.

Byline: Edward Lewis

Jan. 18--WILKES-BARRE -- For nearly 15 years, Jackie Musto Carroll worked in one of the smaller offices inside the Luzerne County District Attorney's Office. Now she has her eye on the largest room. The 46-year-old Yatesville resident launched her campaign for district attorney on Wednesday, making the announcement before family, friends, attorneys and police officials from the courthouse rotunda. "I love this job and I want to continue doing this job," she said. Musto Carroll, the first assistant district attorney, is seeking the Democratic nomination in the May primary election. The political newcomer is seeking to become the first female to hold the position. The post is a four-year term with an annual salary of $133,000. District Attorney David W. Lupas, also a Democrat, is finishing his second, four-year term. He has announced plans to run for a newly created seat on the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas. Musto Carroll was appointed first assistant in 2004. She and Lupas oversee an annual budget of approximately $3.7 million, 24 assistant district attorneys, nine detectives, 39 support staff and nearly 5,000 criminal cases a year. Her platform calls for structuring the office into groups of assistant district attorneys and units to prosecute misdemeanors, felonies and violent felony cases. She would appoint a full-time grant writer to seek state funding to pay for special investigations such as finding pedophiles who use the Internet to prey on children. Musto Carroll touts a 98 percent conviction rate of criminal cases and a 100 percent conviction rate of homicide cases. "My experience as a seasoned veteran prosecutor can't be matched by anybody else," she said. She cited several cases to support her claim that she is ready to be the top prosecutor in the county, including: being the first prosecutor in the state to use a global positioning tracking device to find a murder suspect; prosecuting a serial arsonist that set fires to several buildings in the Plymouth area; and prosecuting a serial rapist that assaulted mostly elderly women in Newport Township.

Musto Carroll said the district attorney's office has been securing stiffer sentences for defendants, especially drug dealers. She also wants to computerize crime statistics that would show patterns of criminal behaviors of defendants. Musto Carroll said she enjoys prosecuting criminals and is rewarded by seeing victims obtain justice. She described a case in which she admitted to being nervous while prosecuting a couple for sexually molesting their 7-year-old son. The boy had two younger siblings who were in foster care. After the couple were convicted, the foster family legally changed the name of the 7-year-old's sister to Jacqueline, after Musto Carroll. "To me, that was the greatest gift that anyone has ever given to me," Musto Carroll said. A Pittston Township native, she graduated from Pittston Area High School in 1978 and from Temple University School of Law in 1985. She has worked for six district attorneys in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties. She and her husband, Timothy Carroll, and their sons, Timothy Jr., John and Gerard, reside in Yatesville. Edward Lewis, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7196.

Copyright (c) 2007, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Times Leader

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