YOUNGSTOWN Defendant charged in inmate assault

Daniel Farah is expected to talk about a jailhouse confession he claims to have heard in jail.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- An Austintown man on trial in the robbery and stabbing of a Youngstown woman last summer now faces more charges.
Authorities say Jacob DiCarlo, 22, of Ayrshire Drive beat up another inmate in the Mahoning County Jail on Friday while they were waiting to be transported to the courthouse.
DiCarlo and Michael Kapsouris, 25, of South Raccoon Road are on trial on charges of felonious assault and aggravated robbery. The trial started last week.
Daniel Farah, 42, of Boardman is among the witnesses expected to testify against DiCarlo and Kapsouris. He is serving a four-year prison sentence for unrelated charges of theft and receiving stolen property.
Assistant Prosecutor Robert Andrews said Farah is one of two jail inmates who've reported that DiCarlo told them of his and Kapsouris' involvement in the crime.
According to a report from the sheriff's department, DiCarlo and Farah were among a group of inmates in a hallway at the jail Friday when DiCarlo punched Farah at least twice in the face before deputies separated them.
Farah required stitches to close cuts in his mouth.
Charged with assault
DiCarlo was charged with assault, to which he pleaded innocent Tuesday in Youngstown Municipal Court. His bond was set at $5,000 cash or surety.
Andrews said Farah was still expected to testify when the trial resumed this morning.
DiCarlo and Kapsouris are accused of trying to take a box of money from Debra Mitchell, who was making a deposit for her employer at the Key Bank on South Raccoon Road in July 2001.
When she would not let go of the money, one of the men pulled out a knife and slashed her in the stomach. Mitchell, who was 39 at the time, was not able to identify the attackers.
Defense attorneys Mark Lavelle, for Kapsouris, and Douglas B. Taylor, for DiCarlo, say their clients were not there that night.
The trial is in the courtroom of Judge Robert Lisotto.
bjackson@vindy.com