Rep defends farm work

The congressman became annoyed when he couldn't pursue death plot questions.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
CLEVELAND -- U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr.'s explanation for what he calls bartered or still-unpaid-for work done at his horse farm in Greenford is simple: It's not really his farm.
The prosecution team called nine witnesses to testify Monday in U.S. District Court who, while employed by contractors Anthony R. Bucci or Greg Tyson, did work at the farm. Each one said that their employers, not Traficant, paid for the work and supplied the materials.
"Who owned the farm?" Traficant, D-17th, asked each witness. Each replied they understood it was his farm.
"Ever see my father out there?" the congressman asked Glen Rose of Lisbon, who once worked for Tyson's Big G Construction.
"No," Rose answered.
"Would you recognize him if he walked in this room?"
Again, Rose answered "No."
The congressman continued the line of questioning throughout the day, getting the same response from each of the construction workers. He greeted each one as if they were long-lost friends: "Howya doin', Bruce," "Howya doin', Joe," "Howya doin', Donald," "Howya doin', John" and so forth.
In testimony: Testimony has shown that only Traficant worked and stayed at the farm from time to time and personally told contractors what needed to be done. His residence is in Poland, where his wife, a beautician, lives.
Ownership of the farm at 6908 W. South Range Road has been transferred several times since Traficant, his wife, Tish, and his parents bought it in 1969. Over the years, since his last indictment in 1982, it has been in his father's then his wife's name.
The farm, valued at $250,000, was transferred from Traficant's wife's name to their daughter Elizabeth's on Dec. 10, 1999, two days after his office records were subpoenaed by Craig S. Morford, lead prosecutor.
Traficant's parents are deceased.
Traficant's 10-count indictment includes charges that he accepted free goods, services and labor at the farm from Bucci, Tyson, Bernard J. Bucheit, A. David Sugar Sr. and others, and paid them with congressional favors, not cash.
In Traficant's opening statement to the jury Feb. 13, he said: "I don't own that farm. I didn't want Bucheit to do that work ... he would have built me a Taj Mahal because, yes, he had so much confidence in his congressman, and I'm proud of this."
Under indictment: Bucheit is under indictment, charged with providing $30,000 worth of free improvements at the farm then lying about the arrangement to a grand jury. Traficant helped Bucheit negotiate an undisclosed settlement in 1992 for construction work done in the Middle East.
"First of all, [Bucheit's] deal was made with my father. Witnesses will come out and prove that," Traficant told the jury Feb. 13. "Second of all, some of the things were done I didn't want done because of the costs, and my dad was up in age, and I didn't want them done."
Traficant went on to say that Bucheit agreed to spread payments for the work over 20 years.
Traficant also told the jury during his opening statement that he paid Tyson with a horse. Tyson's crews did concrete work at the farm,
Much to the consternation of U.S. District Judge Lesley Brooks Wells, the congressman tried again Monday to get in a conversation he'd had with a witness. She's told him repeatedly that if he wants to get his statements in, he has to take the witness stand.
"What do you recall being said?" Traficant asked Rose, the topic being a black horse.
Bernard A. Smith, an assistant U.S. attorney, objected, based on hearsay.
Judge Wells agreed.
"Do you know if I paid Mr. Tyson?" Traficant said, moving on.
"I have no knowledge of that," Rose answered.
Walter T. Diehl of Struthers, Tyson's former personal and business bookkeeper, was asked by Smith if Traficant ever made an in-kind payment, "such as a horse."
"No, never heard of that," Diehl answered.
Diehl testified that materials used at Traficant's farm were billed to "whatever job we were doing at the time," never to the congressman.
Traficant asked another construction worker, John C. Crump of Berlin Center, if he was aware of a "private agreement between me and Greg Tyson" for payment. Crump said he wasn't.
More forbidden questions: Traficant later stepped into forbidden territory with Crump, asking if he'd "read in the paper -- "
"Don't answer that," Judge Wells told Crump.
"Did you come to learn about charges that I conspired to have someone killed?" the congressman asked.
Smith objected.
Traficant then asked if Crump had been told about fingerprints on evidence.
Smith objected.
Judge Wells suggested a break.
Traficant said he didn't want a break.
Did Crump know of his participation in a murder plot? Traficant asked.
Smith objected.
Traficant asked if Crump had come to gain knowledge of his supposedly being involved in a murder plot.
Smith objected.
"We're gonna take a break," Judge Wells said.
The jury filed out for its midafternoon break.
Then, the congressman renewed an old theme, that the judge isn't allowing him to defend himself.
She said that Smith's objections were well taken and that Traficant could not continue to ask Crump about things for which he has no first-hand knowledge.
"It's a fair question to ask if he follows the news," Traficant argued.
No, it isn't, the judge said.
Smith said the line of questioning was irrelevant because Traficant hasn't been charged with a murder plot.
The serious allegations, Traficant stressed, made "national news" before an election and damaged his reputation. He said Crump may have known about the situation.
Judge Wells reminded Traficant that the murder plot made it into the record when he asked Bucci last week if the witness was afraid of him.
This is the exchange that took place:
"Would you ever have reason to fear me?" Traficant asked.
"Yes," Bucci said. He then related that, while at his Florida home, he'd heard Traficant had "put a contract out on Sandy's life."
Bucci had described Sandra J. Ferrante as Traficant's "girlfriend and farm manager."
The "national news" Traficant referred to Monday centered on Clarence T. Broad, a farmhand who pleaded guilty to tampering with a grand jury witness -- Ferrante. Broad had hatched a plot to hire a hit man and have her killed while "the man" (Traficant) was in Washington, D.C.
A criminal information was filed against Broad on Nov. 6, 2000, the day before Traficant won re-election to his ninth term.
Traficant said that the timing was willful prosecutorial misconduct.
"You brought it forward," the judge said, reminding the congressman, again, that the jury only heard about the Ferrante death plot because he, not prosecutors, asked Bucci a question that elicited the information.
Editing testimony: Traficant and the prosecution team were in court at 8 a.m. to debate what would be done with the editing of videotaped testimony of Thomas Williams, a retired Ohio Department of Transportation inspector.
The government objected to at least 10 questions Traficant asked Williams and doesn't want the jury to see or hear his answers.
Judge Wells sustained seven of the government's objections and ordered that the video and its transcript be edited. The tape would be available this afternoon for the jury.
After the judge's ruling, Traficant said, "Anything else you can do for the government?"
"Oh, Congressman," Judge Wells said.
The court recessed for three days last week to allow Williams, who has cancer, to give the videotape testimony near his Cape Canaveral, Fla. home.
Bucci, an admitted crook, said he complained to Traficant many times about Williams making it difficult to cheat and was present to overhear a phone call the congressman made on his behalf to the ODOT inspector. Bucci said Traficant screamed at Williams and threatened to have him fired.
On stand today: Back on the stand today was Richard J. Billak, chief executive officer at Community Corrections Association Inc. CCA is a halfway facility on Market Street in Youngstown that accepts inmates, some federal, serving out the remaining months of their sentence.
Billak told the government that Traficant interceded to get Bucci, who had been at a federal prison in North Carolina in the early 1990s, transferred to CCA.
Under cross-examination by Traficant, Billak acknowledged that it wasn't unusual to accept an inmate who wanted to be near his home and work.
Another inmate sent to CCA with Traficant's help was A. David Sugar Jr., Billak testified.
Billak told Traficant today the younger Sugar did what he was supposed to do, adding that he was clean and sober the entire time he was at CCA.
Sugar's father, A. David Sugar Sr., has admitted that he committed perjury, obstruction of justice and witness tampering in the Traficant case. Sugar Sr. is on the prosecution's witness list.
Court records from Newark, Ohio, reveal why Sugar Jr. went to CCA.
On May 17, 1999, a judge in Licking County Common Pleas Court suspended the younger Sugar's driver's license for three years and sentenced him to a year in jail on a felony DUI conviction. The DUI was his fourth in six years.
Traficant had one of his staffers arrange for a lawyer, Mark S. Colucci, to represent Sugar Jr. and wrote letters to the judge and Billak at CCA, the government said.
The judge ordered that, after 60 days in the Licking County jail, Sugar Jr. be released to CCA. Billak said Licking County has a halfway facility and Sugar could have stayed there.
Traficant wrote to Billak on July 15, 1999, and referred to a conversation about Sugar Jr. that Billak had that day with Anthony Traficanti, the congressman's regional director in Youngstown.
Traficant thanked Billak for assisting Sugar Jr. to continue his daily duties with his father's construction company. Billak said he allowed Sugar Jr. to skip the 30-day waiting period at CCA and immediately resume work.
In return, Sugar Sr. did $10,000 worth of work at the farm, Morford said.
Joseph Sattarelle of Liberty took the stand after Billak to testify about his involvement in Tyson Ready Mix Co.
Previous testimony has shown that Traficant pressured Bank One to loan Tyson money for a cement batch plant and that Tyson defaulted on the loan.
meade@vindy.com