Judge Named to Paterno Case

Senior Judge John B. Leete, from Potter County, will preside over the Paterno family’s case against the NCAA. He will hear the case in Centre County.

Leete was assigned to the case on Thursday by Pennsylvania Chief Justice Ronald Castille, nearly a month after Centre County District Judge Thomas Kistler filed the request. 

All Centre County judges recused themselves from the case. 

In May, the Paterno family, along with 20 other plaintiffs, sued the NCAA for breach of contract, civil conspiracy, defamation and commercial disparagement. Participants in the suit include former Penn State football players and coaches, and members of the Penn State faculty and the Board of Trustees.

In June, more than 300 former football players threw their support behind the lawsuit. It’s been nearly a year since the NCAA penalized Penn State with what NCAA President Mark Emmert calls “unprecedented sanctions” in the aftermath of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. The sanctions include a $60 million fine, a four-year postseason football ban, a significant loss of football scholarships and all wins vacated between 1998-2011 under former coach Joe Paterno.

No court date has been set yet in the case.

Sandusky, 69, is serving a 30-60 year sentence in SCI Greene for his sex crimes.

Related coverage: 

• New Information Revealed in Paterno Family Lawsuit Against NCAA (May 29)