Ex-state trooper to withdraw plea in Mayfield strip club case
Jun. 27—A former state police trooper who was charged after a grand jury investigation into alleged illegal gambling and prostitution at the Mayfield strip club he co-owned will be allowed to withdraw his guilty plea in the case.
Lackawanna County Judge Michael J. Barrasse said during a hearing Monday the court will grant Robert E. Covington Jr.'s motion to withdraw his plea involving the Sinners Swing Gentlemen's Club after the state attorney general's office indicated it did not object.
Covington, 49, Olyphant, is the second defendant to seek to withdraw his guilty plea in the case. David Paul Klem, 41, Archbald, filed a similar motion June 6.
Covington and Klem, who were identified by investigators as co-owners of the club on Business Route 6, were charged in 2021 after a statewide grand jury investigation into illicit activities at the business.
The grand jury alleged the pair made illegal payouts to patrons who won on video gambling machines at Sinners Swing and took a cut of money earned by strippers for performing sex acts for customers.
Each man pleaded guilty in February — Covington to allowing gambling at the club and statement under penalty, and Klem to allowing gambling and promoting prostitution.
Sentencing for the two men was scheduled for May but was postponed when Barrasse said the court would not accept the sentence prosecutors negotiated with Klem.
During an appearance before Barrasse on Monday, state Assistant Chief Deputy Attorney General Adrian Shchuka said the commonwealth does not oppose the defendants' motions to withdraw their pleas. He asked the judge to schedule the case for trial, suggesting September.
Covington, in the motion he filed in county court Friday to withdraw his plea, cited a recent ruling by a Luzerne County judge in an unrelated case that alleged gambling machines like those recovered at Sinners Swing were not "per se" gambling devices under state law.
One of the charges Covington pleaded guilty to involved an identical device, the motion said.
Contact the writer: dsingleton@timesshamrock.com, 570-348-9132
