TRAFICANT CASE Naming names, beating the heat

So far, only the ex-congressman has gone to prison.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- At least 12 people implicated in some fashion in former U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr.'s corruption case avoided prosecution.
The Vindicator compiled the list from Traficant's indictment and trial testimony. Nearly all who avoided prosecution testified with immunity.
Youngstown attorney David J. Betras, who followed the trial closely and does extensive work in federal court, offered analysis of the list for the newspaper. He said no one should be shocked to see the deals made with lesser people to get to the big fish.
R. Allen Sinclair gave $32,500 in kickbacks, destroyed evidence and profited from a deceptive office rental arrangement at 11 Overhill Road. He placed the building in his wife's name because, as a congressional staffer, he was prohibited from renting district office space to Traficant.
The charges could have been obstruction of justice, conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations statute, bribery and providing an illegal gratuity, Betras said.
Before Sinclair, who bought the building from Henry A. DiBlasio, Richard Jeren and then Nicholas Chuirazzi passed themselves off as the owners of 11 Overhill. Jeren and Chuirazzi had the building "in name only" so that DiBlasio, the true owner and a congressional staffer, could rent space to Traficant.
Sinclair could have faced charges of obstruction, tax fraud "for sure" and maybe mail fraud, Betras said.
Falsified records
Sue Beegle falsified records for A. David Sugar Sr. of New Middletown, her contractor boss, and, initially, lied to the FBI.
"Lying to the FBI is a crime, as is falsifying records," Betras said. "She also could have been charged with obstruction of a criminal investigation and tampering with evidence."
Betras said you can refuse to talk to the FBI -- but if you talk, you must tell the truth.
For years, Jackie Bobby and Grace Kavulic Yavorsky kept secret the knowledge that their co-worker, Charles P. O'Nesti, now deceased, was kicking back part of his congressional salary.
Betras said the women represent the weakest link in the chain. If a charge had been brought, it could have been a state charge of misprison of a felony, which means you failed to report a crime.
Anthony T. Traficanti, Richard Rovnak and George F. Buccella collected federal paychecks for tasks performed at Traficant's horse farm in Greenford.
"They probably could have been charged with conspiracy to commit RICO, obstruction of justice and theft," Betras said.
Albert Lange participated in a conspiracy to provide Traficant with boat repairs and gifts.
Betras said the charges here could have been conspiracy to provide an illegal gratuity and bribery.
Contractors
Anthony R. Bucci had his construction crews do extensive work at Traficant's farm and collected favors, not money.
Greg Tyson's construction crews also did work at Traficant's farm and, in return, the congressman interceded on Tyson's behalf to obtain a bank loan that had first been denied, the government said.
Both contractors could have been charged with providing an illegal gratuity, Betras said.
All but Traficanti and Tyson testified for the prosecution at Traficant's corruption trial. Traficanti and Tyson testified for the defense.
The jury did not find Traficant guilty of the racketeering act that named Tyson. Tyson testified that he accepted a horse as payment, even though he never took it off Traficant's property.
Of those not prosecuted, Betras said: "That's not how [the government] used to do things but that's how they do things now and the courts condone it. They beat you up with tonnage to the point [of] what they lack in quality, they make up in quantity."
8-year sentence
U.S. marshals led Traficant out of federal court in handcuffs on July 30 to serve eight years in prison. The jury concluded that he took kickbacks, cheated on his taxes, compelled staffers to do work at his horse farm, accepted bribes and gifts from businessmen and used his influential position instead of paying contractors for work at the farm.
Traficant complained bitterly throughout his trial that the government pressured prosecution witnesses. He has railed against the disparity in sentences.
Probation
Aside from the dozen implicated but not prosecuted, three others linked to Traficant's corruption walked out of court as convicted felons to serve probation only.
Bucci, guilty in an unrelated case and awaiting sentencing, parlayed what he knew about Traficant into two years' probation, with the first six weeks under house arrest. Over the years, Bucci cheated the IRS, paid bribes to ex-Mahoning County Engineer William P. Fergus and ran scams on the Ohio Department of Transportation and U.S. Department of Labor.
DiBlasio, who did not cooperate with the government or testify against Traficant, got four years' probation, with the first six months under house arrest. DiBlasio had used Jeren and Chuirazzi to hide his true ownership of 11 Overhill and lied to a grand jury about giving kickbacks to Traficant.
J.J. Cafaro, who provided documents and testified against Traficant, got 15 months' probation. Cafaro admitted giving Traficant about $40,000 in boat repairs, cash and gifts.
Incarcerated
So far, only James R. Sabatine has received incarceration -- five months in a federal community-based halfway facility in Cincinnati, and five months' electronically monitored house arrest. His release from Cincinnati is set for March 27.
The bulk of the case against him was unrelated to Traficant.
Sabatine admitted engaging in a pattern of racketeering between June 1993 and December 1999 and filing a false tax return for 1994, understating his income by $239,000. Most of the crimes were bribes paid to officials in communities where Sabatine's now-liquidated Hardrives Paving and Contracting did work.
Sabatine also admitted giving Traficant a $2,400 bribe in 1998. The jury did not find Traficant guilty of taking the bribe.
Not sentenced yet
Only one co-defendant, Sugar, remains to be sentenced.
Sugar admitted that he committed perjury, obstruction of justice and witness tampering. He provided false testimony when questioned by the grand jury about whether his Honey Creek Contracting billed and received payment from Traficant for work done at the farm.
Sugar also directed his secretary -- Beegle -- to create fake invoices and mailing dates and told her to misrepresent facts about the phony invoices to the FBI.
Sugar faces 18 to 24 months in prison when sentenced Jan. 30.
If the judge concludes he provided substantial assistance to the government, the sentence will be 10 to 16 months. At the low end, he could spend five months incarcerated in a community corrections facility and five months' house arrest.
Trials
Two trials remain -- Richard E. Detore's in March and Bernard J. Bucheit's in April.
Detore is accused of conspiring with Cafaro and Lange to provide Traficant with unlawful gratuities. Detore and Lange once worked for Cafaro's USAerospace Group in Virginia, which Traficant promoted with federal agencies.
Bucheit is charged with conspiracy to violate the federal bribery statute, giving an unlawful gratuity to a public official and perjury before a federal grand jury. He is accused of doing roughly $30,000 worth of contracting work at Traficant's farm in Greenford and not requiring payment.
The trials won't be the last of the Traficant case.
The FBI believes more than six defense witnesses committed perjury. Once the evidence has been gathered, the U.S. attorney's office will prosecute, the FBI has said.