Records review puts gifts at $1M

By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- If U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. traveled the corrupt rainbow that federal prosecutors claim, his pot of gold overflowed with roughly $1 million in cash, gifts and services.
The Vindicator used property records and his 41-page racketeering indictment to plot out the alleged illegal gratuities and calculate their worth.
The government said Traficant's most recent staff attorney slipped $2,500 under the door of the district office in Boardman each month for 13 months. By doing so, the attorney, who left in early 2000, continued the practice of the administrative assistant he replaced, the government said.
From the late 1980s through early 2000, the 17th District congressman took kickbacks from high-level staffers working out of his Youngstown-area district offices, the government said. Other than using the plural staffers, the government doesnot say how many.
Consider if only one employee kicked back $1,500 of his or her congressional salary each month for six years, then increased it to $2,500 each month for seven years. At that rate, Traficant would have pocketed $318,000 over the span of 13 years.
If two employees, however, took part in the kickback scheme during the same time, as the indictment implies, the amount would be $636,000.
Estimates: The estimated amounts used reflect raises in Traficant's and congressional staffers' income over the years.
Conservative estimates by The Vindicator, based on a survey of local contractors, were used for work the government said contractors provided to Traficant free of charge at his Greenford horse farm and Poland residence in return for favors. No estimates were used if descriptions of materials or quantities were vague.
Traficant has been in Congress since January 1985, and his 10-count indictment spans 1985 through early 2000. His trial, at which he will represent himself, is set for Feb. 4.
The kickbacks estimated by The Vindicator, meanwhile, don't cover what the government says it cost taxpayers to have lower-level congressional staffers do work on federal time at his 76-acre horse farm in Greenford or on his houseboat in Washington, D.C.
Using $9.50 an hour as an average staffer's wage, if they worked sporadically at the farm or boat for as little as 15 hours each week while on the congressional payroll, Traficant accepted $7,410 in free labor each year. It adds up to $81,510 for the 11 years highlighted in the indictment.
Government list: Specific work on the boat is not listed in the indictment. Labor and repairs done by Youngstown and Niles congressional staffers at the farm in Greenford from late 1988 through February 2000, according to the government, included:
Uelectrical and plumbing work (waterlines, hot water heater for horses).
Urunning and repairing farm equipment, electrical and plumbing repairs.
Umaintaining and repairing structures such as barn walls, horse stalls and a farmhouse deck.
Ubaling hay, building a corral, converting a corn crib to another use.
Sandra J. Ferrante, an experienced equestrienne, described the arrangements for farm work as disorganized. She recalled seeing a variety of workers at the farm frequently.
Ferrante lived in the farmhouse for 17 years and showed Traficant's regal saddle horses at events.
Separate from the staff kickbacks and labor are cash, gifts and services prosecutors contend Traficant got from contractors and other businessmen in return for using his influence.
If the government can prove everything it alleges, the 60-year-old congressman accepted an estimated $75,000 worth of improvements, repairs and labor at the farm and at his Poland residence and incidentals, according to low estimates calculated by The Vindicator.
Ownership of the farm at 6908 W. South Range Road has been transferred several times since Traficant, his wife and his parents bought it in 1969. It was placed in the name of a Traficant daughter in December 1999, about the time his office records were subpoenaed by Craig S. Morford, an assistant U.S. attorney.
Property records show that the farmhouse was built in 1875 and certain outbuildings added in 1920. Aside from the pole barn, a 1,056-square-foot lean-to was constructed in 1996.
Property appraisals: Bob Rimedio, chief appraiser for Mahoning County, said market value (land and buildings) for the farm is $250,600, as of a reappraisal done in 1999.
In tax year 1994, structures on the property were appraised at $66,600; after new construction, the structures' value increased to $95,100 in tax year 1995, Rimedio said. The $28,500 increase does not take into account improvements to the land, such as drainage systems, he said.
Contractors named in the indictment either declined to comment or are no longer in business and could not be reached.
Work provided: The government said that, from the late 1980s until 2000, contractors, sometimes reluctantly, provided the following at Traficant's horse farm and residence:
UIn May 1987, $10,233 worth of unspecified work at the farm done by Asphalt Specialist, once operated by Anthony and Robert Bucci. The contractors, who had billed Traficant, were persuaded by him to forgive the debt.
UThrough October 1996, the Buccis, companies they controlled and others acting at their request continued to provide free labor, materials, supplies and equipment at the farm. (If $4,000 a year, based on $1,000 per quarter for minimal labor only, that's $36,000 for nine years).
UFor six months during the mid-1990s, a Bucci employee -- at the contractor's expense -- worked full time at the farm. He repaired machinery, tended horses, cleaned horse stalls, baled hay, mended fences and assisted in carpentry work in the barns. (If the labor was worth $2,080 a month, based on nonunion wages, that's $12,480).
UIn 1993, Bucheit International provided an addition and a deck at the farmhouse. Property records identify a 676-square-foot deck, roof extension and patio but not the year built. ($6,000 deck only).
UIn 1994, Capital Ready Mix-Big G Construction provided a concrete floor in the barn, installed drainage pipes and waterlines, cleared and hauled debris and delivered and spread gravel. ($9,000 floor only).
UIn 1998, James A. Sabatine, who owned Hardrives Paving at the time, provided unspecified labor at the farm.
UIn April 1999, A. David Sugar of Honey Creek Contracting provided labor, materials and supplies, such as installing field drainage systems, cutting roads, removing trees, obtaining and spreading stones, grading and site preparation work.
UIn March 2000, a Honey Creek employee hauled a large piece of farm equipment from Traficant's farm to a farm in Pennsylvania. Also that month, Honey Creek employees poured a concrete floor in a barn at Traficant's Poland residence. ($3,360).
In late December 1999, when Traficant learned the FBI was actively investigating his activities, he gave Sugar a check for $1,142 to conceal his acceptance of the free services and materials, the government said.
Prosecutors said Traficant explained to Sugar that he "had to make sure he paid everyone something." He instructed Sugar to cash the check and maintain a photocopy of it.
The check was for "significantly less" than the value of the labor and materials, says Traficant's indictment.
Between late March and mid-April 2000, Traficant gave Sugar several items of personal property, including a piano, to make it falsely appear that Sugar had performed the work -- moving the equipment and pouring the floor at the Poland home -- as part of a legitimate arm's-length transaction, the government said.
There's no mention in Traficant's indictment of partial payments other contractors may have received.
Construction in 1994 of a 60-foot-by-100-foot pole barn and arena for horses is not included in the list of illegal gratuities. In a March 2000 interview with The Vindicator outside the grand jury room in Cleveland, the builder said it cost $60,000, of which Traficant paid about $15,000.
Meals in Washington: Incidentals in Traficant's indictment, meanwhile, include more than $3,500 in meals he and his co-defendant, Richard E. Detore, ate in 1998 and 1999 at the Taverna restaurant in Washington. Detore, then an executive with USAerospace Group, used USAG funds to pay.
Detore, of Clifton, Va., is accused of conspiracy to bribery.
Liberty resident J.J. Cafaro of the mall development family, Detore's former boss at USAG in Manassas, Va., has admitted bribing Traficant with $40,000. The amount covers the cost of repairs to and toward the purchase of the congressman's houseboat.
In April or May 1999, Traficant asked Detore for a generator and welder. Detore used USAG funds to buy the items and had USAG employees deliver them to the congressman, the government said. A local supplier said generators cost $400 to $1,000 and welders $220 to $430.
Sabatine, of Canfield, also has admitted giving Traficant a $2,400 bribe. Sabatine, who liquidated Hardrives earlier this year, wanted to secure a rail line near his Youngstown asphalt plant and paid Traficant for whatever influence he could wield to make it happen.
Sabatine, Sugar and Cafaro have pleaded guilty to their part in the Traficant case and are expected to testify against him.
Tax problems: Aside from accepting cash, gifts and services, Traficant is accused of cheating on his taxes in 1998 and 1999.
The government, if successful at trial, wants Traficant to forfeit at least $100,000 from property it claims he derived through racketeering activity.
The Poland Democrat's annual salary has risen from $75,100 in 1985 to $145,100 this year. His total salary, over the span of nine terms in office, is slightly more than $1.9 million.
meade@vindy.com