SCRANTON — The former owner of two juvenile detention facilities was sentenced this morning to 18 months in prison for his role in a kickback scheme that led the state Supreme Court to vacate the convictions of thousands of juveniles who appeared before a now-jailed Pennsylvania judge.

Robert Powell pleaded guilty in 2009 to concealing a felony and an accessory charge in the so-called “kids for cash” scandal.

One of the two juvenile detention facilities in question is in Allegheny Township, Butler County.

Powell testified earlier this year that he was forced to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to former Luzerne County Judges Mark Ciavarella Jr. and Michael Conahan in return for their support of his two private juvenile detention facilities.

Powell said the judges extorted more than $725,000 from him after they shut down the county-run detention center and instead sent juveniles to his new lockup outside the city of Wilkes-Barre.

Powell, who has moved with his family to Florida, declined to comment as he left the courthouse today. He is to report to the Federal Bureau of Prisons by Nov. 30.