MAHONING COUNTY RICO trial begins for ex-assistant prosecutor and investigator

The trial could last a month with as many as 40 prosecution witnesses.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
CLEVELAND -- Jury selection was to begin today in a trial expected to open the book of Mahoning County corruption that an ex-prosecutor, several judges and lawyers tried to keep shut.
The venue is U.S. District Court, with Judge Kathleen M. O'Malley taking the bench in the racketeering case against James A. Vitullo of North Jackson and Russell J. "Champ" Saadey of Austintown.
Judge O'Malley comes to the task with ample knowledge of Mahoning County -- she presided over the trials of three of its mobsters in March 1999 and, in July 1999, its sheriff. She has sentenced them and roughly 65 others who avoided trial by striking plea agreements with the government.
The list of the fallen, nearly all of whom appeared in Judge O'Malley's court, includes ex-prosecutor James A. Philomena, four judges, 11 lawyers, dozens of low-level gamblers, four cops and the ex-county engineer.
Vitullo and Saadey are charged with conspiring to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. The charges span 1992 through 1996.
Additional charges: Vitullo, 45, former assistant Mahoning County prosecutor, also faces 11 counts of extortion. He is accused of taking money from defense attorneys to dismiss or reduce their clients' DUI charges.
In addition to racketeering, Saadey, 46, a former prosecutor's investigator, faces two counts of extortion, three counts of filing false tax returns (1994 through 1996) and five counts of making false statements to banks related to credit card applications. A federal grand jury handed up the last five counts in June in a superseding indictment.
Saadey's extortion counts deal with Dennis Orr, a North Jackson doctor who pleaded guilty to illegally dispensing drugs, and Phillip Courtney and Robert E. Harvey Jr., who owned Courtney-Harvey Ford Mercury in Canfield and were convicted in an odometer rollback scheme.
The government, represented by Thomas J. Gruscinski, an assistant U.S. attorney, will attempt to prove in the coming weeks that Vitullo and Saadey were part of a case-fixing business that operated with Philomena as chief executive officer. The trial could last four weeks with the potential of 40 prosecution witnesses.
Philomena to testify: The Vitullo-Saadey trial represents the first time Philomena, now in a federal prison, must take the witness stand and, because of his binding plea agreement, tell a jury the full extent of his corruption. He pleaded guilty to a criminal information, a negotiated plea that generally deals with one or two charges, never the full scope of what the government could reveal in an indictment.
The benefit of pleading to a criminal information is twofold. The defendant receives a reduced prison term by accepting responsibility and saves face by keeping from the public much of the government's evidence.
If, however, co-defendants such as Vitullo and Saadey maintain their innocence and go to trial, the government can call upon witnesses with plea agreements to testify for the prosecution.
The jury must decide if the testimony of such witnesses rings true.
Vitullo's lead attorney is E. Scott Shaw from Columbus; Saadey's is David J. Betras of Youngstown. Each has co-counsel.
Other prosecution witnesses: Aside from Philomena, Gruscinski, in a trial brief filed with the court, intends to call Fred H. Bailey, the county judge at Austintown county court when Vitullo served there. Bailey, whose sentencing has been deferred pending his cooperation, faces 18 to 24 months in prison.
The federal prosecutor intends to call these convicted lawyers to testify -- Jack V. Campbell, Stuart J. Banks and James R. Wise. Campbell and Banks admitted their part in the bribery business; Wise pleaded guilty to mail fraud.
All have been sentenced.
Austintown businessman Martin J. DePerro, owner of Youngstown Bridge & amp; Iron, is also on the government's witness list. He admitted helping two friends get their DUIs fixed -- one in Austintown's county court and one in Youngstown Municipal Court.
DePerro faces 10 to 16 months when sentenced.
Gruscinski's trial brief shows that he has a few surprises lined up, too. He has told Judge O'Malley that "some government witnesses" may be compelled to testify under immunity. The witnesses likely include those who had some part in the crimes Vitullo and Saadey allegedly committed.
The federal prosecutor, in his trial brief, responded to a question raised by Vitullo at a final pretrial Sept. 18. Vitullo wanted whatever report may exist that showed that FBI Special Agent Tony Speranza posed as a potential DUI client in 1996 in an entrapment scheme.
Gruscinski said the government has determined that the encounter never took place. Vitullo was not contacted by the FBI until his arrest in December 2000, the federal prosecutor said.
meade@vindy.com