COUDERSPORT, Pa. - It's not that everyone in Coudersport forgot what happened. Everyone here is quite aware that John Rigas, the Adelphia founder who built a cable empire in this small Pennsylvania town, was convicted of a multi-billion dollar corporate fraud scheme.
People here remember the devastation caused by Adelphia's bankruptcy. They remember the jobs it cost, the homes people lost. Every day, they pass a former Adelphia building on Main Street -- once so glamorous they nicknamed it "Taj Mahal" -- and they realize it's a far cry from the glory days.
So when John Rigas returned to Coudersport on Monday night after a decade in prison, the rest of America may have found it a bit surprising that the town lined the streets to pay him tribute. Carrying an assortment of "Welcome Home!" signs, a few hundred people cheered and hollered when he finally arrived with his family to acknowledge the crowd. When Rigas briefly stepped out of his car, the crowd mobbed him, and then they chanted "God Bless John! God Bless John!"
Rigas, 91, has terminal cancer. He may only have months to live, which is why the federal government granted Rigas a “compassionate release” from prison on Monday afternoon. Rigas’ attorney and supporters had pushed for a compassionate release before the federal Bureau of Prisons and a judge officially approved it.
“I don’t know what other people think. I think in this town, he’s been such a gracious, wonderful man,” Janis Yskamp said, standing in a crowd of supporters on Monday night. “And whatever the charges were, whatever the trial came out, that had nothing to do with the man the people here knew.”
Under the terms of his sentence, Rigas must now serve six months under supervised release. Rigas’ attorney, Larry McMichael, told 2 On Your Side on Monday that he applauds the government for taking the “humane” approach, noting that it will save the government money to allow Rigas to live his final months outside of prison.
Donna Sturdevant, who worked for Rigas and his wife for more than three decades, argued for Rigas’ innocence at the welcoming rally. Like many people in Coudersport, she believes the federal government used Rigas as a scapegoat.
“He made Coudersport what it was,” Sturdevant said. “And he never should have been where he was.”
Phil Smith, a longtime resident of Potter County, made the same argument. But he wasn’t attending the rally on Monday evening— he was just in town to grab dinner.
Smith remains loyal to Rigas and his family, but he also recognizes the financial ruin Adelphia’s bankruptcy left behind.
“It was a big loss when Adelphia went out. It made Potter County, then it broke it,” Smith said. “It’s nothing, nothing like it was. It’s a ghost town compared to what it was when they were here.”
But Rigas’ influence is still evident all over the county and particularly in Coudersport, where the original vintage movie theater he bought in the 1950s still stands on Main Street, just down the road from the line of former Adelphia buildings.
As he approached the crowd on Monday evening, John Rigas spoke in a hushed, nearly inaudible tone, quietly thanking his supporters before driving away. In all, his first public appearance following his prison stint lasted fewer than 10 minutes.
And ultimately, Rigas’ prison sentence lasted only about a decade. He was originally set for release in January 2018.
“He never should have been there,” Sturdevant said.
With Photojournalist J.T. Messinger