Sex-abuse cop Icker signs federal plea deal

A former part-time police officer accused of sexually assaulting women while on duty in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties has agreed to a separate federal plea deal that would lead to a dozen years behind bars, court documents show.

Mark Icker, 30, of Throop, allegedly requested sex acts from women in exchange for making criminal charges disappear while he was working as an officer for Ashley and Sugar Notch in Luzerne County, along with Jessup in Lackawanna County.

The federal charges allege that Icker’s actions toward two of the women, while working in Ashley, deprived them of their due-process rights, including the right to bodily integrity, under the U.S. Constitution.

In both cases, federal prosecutors wrote, Icker coerced the women into unwanted sexual contact, which “included the use, attempted use, and threatened use of a dangerous weapon.”

One of the women sustained unspecified bodily injury as a result, court documents state.

The women were only identified in court documents by their initials. The Times Leader does not identify victims or alleged victims in sexual assault cases.

According to a plea agreement signed Nov. 15 by Icker and filed with U.S. District Judge Malachy E. Mannion, Icker faces 12 years in federal prison when he appears before the judge on Tuesday afternoon to enter his plea.

While Icker’s attorneys and federal prosecutors agreed to the deal, it must still be accepted by Mannion.

Without the deal, Icker faced up to 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine in connection with charges related to his abuse of the two women, court documents state.

The separate state charges were filed against Icker in the respective counties. A trial in Luzerne County was set to begin earlier this month, but was pushed back to Jan. 6, 2020, in response to a defense request for more preparation time.

It was not immediately clear Thursday what impact the federal plea might have on those cases.

By Roger DuPuis

rdupuis@timesleader.com