MAHONING COUNTY

MAHONING COUNTY
2 chargesin briberyare tossed
The former municipal judge admitted he was bribed by the defendant.
By D.A. WILKINSON
VINDICATOR STAFF REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A judge has dismissed the most serious charges against a retired bail bondsman accused of bribing former Youngstown Municipal Judge Andrew Polovischak Jr.
Judge Robert B. Ford, sitting by assignment in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, ruled Friday the indictment against Louis A. Buccilli was defective.
Buccilli, 80, of Martha Avenue, Campbell, was indicted in August on a charge of bribing Polovischak, which is a third-degree felony. That charge remains.
Charges gone: Judge Ford dismissed two first-degree felony charges. The first contended Buccilli conspired with ex-lawyer Jack V. Campbell and Polovischak. The second charge contended Buccilli engaged in a pattern of corrupt activity. The activity in all three charges is alleged to have occurred between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 1995.
The charges of conspiracy and pattern of corrupt activity give no details of the alleged activity.
"The pattern of corrupt activity and corrupt activity were words specifically defined, and that pattern and those activities are required to be included," Judge Ford wrote in his opinion.
Buccilli's lawyer, James Gentile, had argued that an indictment that contended a pattern of corrupt activity "alleges nothing."
Motion denied: Judge Ford denied a motion by assistant county prosecutor Nicholas Modarelli to file an amended indictment that contended Campbell gave bribe money to Buccilli, who gave it to Polovischak.
Modarelli was unavailable to comment.
County Prosecutor Paul Gains blamed the dismissal on a weak case the FBI turned over to Gains' office for prosecution. Gains also said he had asked the FBI to do more investigation on the case.
The FBI investigated Polovischak, who is now serving a 30-month sentence in a federal prison cCamp in Fort Walton Beach, Fla.
Gains also said Polovischak's federal plea agreement did not provide for his testimony in any cases.
When Polovischak pleaded guilty in April to one count of conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, he admitted taking bribes from Buccilli and Campbell, among others.
Must testify: Campbell, of Canfield, is serving 16 months of electronically monitored house arrest as part of his federal sentence for fixing cases. His agreement requires him to testify.
That, said Gains, leaves the state with Campbell's word against Buccilli's.
Gains said the missing language required in the indictment against Buccilli may have been overlooked when the document was prepared. Gains signed the indictment against Buccilli, and he said he signs all the indictments.