It's one guilty, one innocent in racketeering case

The jury didn't believe witnesses, a defense attorney said.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
CLEVELAND -- Atty. James A. Vitullo says his victory over racketeering charges is bittersweet because the jury that freed him found his cousin Russell J. Saadey Jr. guilty.
The words both Austintown men had hoped to hear Friday afternoon in U.S. District Court from Judge Kathleen M. O'Malley were said to only one: "Mr. Vitullo, you are free to go."
She set Saadey's sentencing for 1 p.m. Jan. 9 and allowed him to remain free on bond with standard restrictions. Bernard A. Smith, an assistant U.S. attorney, had asked that Saadey, who is known as "Champ," be placed on electronically monitored house arrest pending sentencing.
"It's always disappointing to lose," Smith said after court. "Juries make their decisions, and we live by them."
Thomas J. Gruscinski, lead prosecutor for the government, had surgery Thursday on an ankle that he broke several months ago and was not in court Friday for the verdict. Throughout the bribery and extortion trial, which began Oct. 2, Gruscinski had to use a wheelchair.
Possible prison term: Saadey, 47, a former Mahoning County prosecutor's investigator, faces the possibility of five years in prison, his lead attorney, David J. Betras said after court.
Betras called the verdict "tough to take," saying he worked hard on the case. "I'm happy for Jimmy, though, very happy," he said.
"No regrets," Saadey said minutes after the judge read the verdict about 1:15 p.m. Friday. "I did the right thing. I would never have been able to look myself in the face if I hadn't gone to trial."
Saadey expressed happiness for his cousin's acquittal then flashed a grin and quipped: "He'll be able to work on my appeal."
Vitullo, clutching the hand of his wife, Carrie, said they had been nervous but believed the jury would find him innocent. The 45-year-old former assistant Mahoning County prosecutor said he bears no grudges to those who testified against him.
Vitullo said he has a small business now with a partner and does not intend to resume his law practice. The Vitullos, smiling after court, said they looked forward to getting home to their children and pets.
At 12:40 p.m. Friday, when Judge O'Malley's law clerk announced that a verdict had been reached, the emotions that had been held in check during 31/2 days of deliberations began to show. Tears filled Vitullo's eyes and those of his wife, mother and sister.
Vitullo and Saadey had many friends and family members in Judge O'Malley's gallery throughout the trial to offer support.
One of Vitullo's lawyers, Maridee L. Costanzo, cried, too, before the verdict came in. After the verdict sank in, Costanzo said: "I feel like David in the Old Testament. I went in with a slingshot and got a 'bing' on the giant's head."
She gave "90 percent" of the victory to Vitullo's taking the witness stand for 31/2 hours in his own defense Oct. 12.
DUI cases: Vitullo, who had carried a 10-inch thick file folder of mostly DUI cases with him to the witness stand that day, offered explanations for each DUI the government said he fixed in Mahoning County Court in Austintown for Youngstown-area attorneys Jack V. Campbell, Stuart J. Banks and Lawrence J. Seidita.
Vitullo explained to the jury the elements of obtaining a DUI conviction and why some are reduced to a lesser charge or dismissed.
Campbell, Banks and Seidita, now convicted ex-lawyers and compelled to be government witnesses, testified that they bribed Vitullo and that he split the money with Fred H. Bailey, now a retired county judge convicted of taking bribes from the lawyers. Vitullo denied each allegation and said the only money he took as an assistant prosecutor was his paycheck.
Contributed to campaign: Vitullo said he contributed to Bailey's judicial campaign and gave him money when Bailey performed a marriage ceremony for a friend.
Sometimes, Vitullo said, Bailey would ask for money because of his "situation" with a woman whose rent, car payment and utilities the judge paid each month for 17 years. Vitullo said he gave Bailey money on those occasions.
The government built its case against Vitullo primarily on the testimony of Campbell, Banks, Seidita and Bailey. Saadey's case was built primarily on the testimony of businessmen who testified that he took part in extortion schemes.
Betras said jurors gave no credence whatsoever to the testimony of Bailey and the ex-lawyers. "The jury totally disbelieved their testimony," he said.
Believed Philomena: Betras, who gleaned jurors' comments from the judge, learned that the 10-woman, two-man jury did believe the testimony of James A. Philomena. Philomena, the now-imprisoned ex-county prosecutor who hired Vitullo and Saadey, gave an overview of how case fixing worked from 1989 through 1996.
Philomena implicated Saadey in the extortion of two car dealers who wanted their odometer rollback case to be fixed. The jury found Saadey innocent of another attempted extortion scheme that Philomena said involved a diet-pill doctor.
Although the indictment shows that Philomena intended to give Vitullo a split of a $5,000 bribe from Banks, jurors discounted that.
That particular racketeering act represents the only question jurors had throughout their deliberations. They asked if perhaps Vitullo's name in the act was a misprint; the judge said it wasn't.
Although Saadey was not named in that same act, jurors found him guilty of it because they found him guilty of being part of the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act conspiracy, Betras said.
To find either man guilty of conspiracy to violate RICO, jurors had to believe, beyond a reasonable doubt, that each man had committed at least two racketeering acts.
27 acts: The 10-woman, two-man jury had 27 acts to consider in the RICO count that dealt with multiple acts of extortion and multiple acts of bribery of public officials.
In addition, Vitullo faced nine counts of extortion and one count of conspiracy to commit extortion. Saadey faced one count each of extortion and conspiracy to commit extortion, three tax evasion and five false statements on credit applications.
Betras, meanwhile, said he had no regrets in his decision not to put Saadey on the witness stand.
Both Vitullo and Saadey turned down pretrial plea agreements offered by the government.
Saadey, who said he took and passed a polygraph test and offered to take one for the government, feels confident about his appeal.
"[Prosecutors] gave immunity to the man who took the money -- I wasn't involved at all," he said, referring to Frank Amedia, who received immunity for his testimony. Amedia, a Youngstown businessman who retired to Florida in May 2000, said he delivered cash to Saadey that former Canfield car dealers Robert E. Harvey Jr. and Phillip Courtney collected to fix their odometer rollback case.
Philomena got $34,000, a third of what he believed was a $100,000 bribe. Harvey testified that he and Courtney paid $200,000.