SHAMOKIN - It's safe to say things didn't go as planned for Scott J. Binsack in 2012.
First, his $13 million plan to revitalize Shamokin and Coal Township got mostly a cold shoulder from local folks, and then his effort to root out corruption among local officials ended up with him running from the law.
He was eventually captured and jailed, and that's where he remains while 2012 turns to 2013.
It started out innocently enough: Binsack and business associate Steven Crone approached city council in August with a prospectus detailing a plan to raise millions from investors to revitalize the town.
However, Binsack's 13-year-old criminal history from New York state and Lackawanna and Monroe counties soon became public knowledge, and things slowly began to unravel for the charismatic Binsack.
He went on the offensive and took the fight to the Internet. On Facebook and YouTube, Binsack and Crone created what they called America's hottest new reality show - "Something's Smokin' in Shamokin" - where they used the World Wide Web as their soapbox, promising to expose corruption in Shamokin.
In late October, Binsack failed to show up for a scheduled meeting with a Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole hearing officer and fled the state. Binsack, who continued to post taunting messages to law enforcement on the Internet while on the lam, was considered a parole absconder for a month before he was found Nov. 20 by U.S. Marshals in a motel room in Bath, N.Y., a location he called "Narnia" in his online posts.
On the day he was captured in New York, Binsack's attorney filed a civil lawsuit on his behalf against six Shamokin officials, including two councilmen and the police chief, and two PBPP employees, claiming his constitutional rights to free speech, assembly, due process and liberty had been violated, that his ability to develop real estate opportunities was "seriously damaged," that his "good name, reputation, honor and integrity" were injured, and that he has suffered emotional distress.
It was ruled by the parole board after a violation hearing on Dec. 13 at State Correctional Institution-Rockview, Bellefonte, that Binsack must spend six months in jail and undergo mental health treatment for three parole violations: leaving the district without permission, changing residence without permission and failing to report as instructed.
It was also ruled that Binsack must report to a community corrections residency for an undetermined amount of time after he completes his "six months back time" on or after May 5.