TRAFICANT TRIAL Sugar says he did not expect pay

The government doesn't need audiotapes. It has the word of witnesses, a professor says.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
CLEVELAND -- A contractor testified today that U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. said "the bastards" in the FBI were watching him closely, and made a payment that the contractor never expected in December 1999.
A. David Sugar Sr. said Traficant met him at Perkins Restaurant in Canfield in December 1999 to give him a check. It was the first time the congressman had ever mentioned any payment for work done at his farm, Sugar testified.
Sugar said Traficant explained that he was giving him the check, virtually every penny Traficant had in his checking account, because the FBI -- "the bastards" -- was watching him real close.
Sugar, earlier this morning, testified that it got too expensive to keep doing work for Traficant, so he stopped after the cost reached $10,000 to $12,000.
Sugar, who owns Honey Creek Contracting in Petersburg, testified that he and Traficant also met at Perkins Restaurant in Canfield in late 1999 or early 2000 to discuss Sugar's son's felony DUI conviction in Licking County.
As soon as Traficant agreed to help, he asked the Sugars to accompany him to his horse farm in Greenford, and showed them things he wanted done, according to testimony.
Sugar said he was concerned about his son spending time in a jail in Licking County, and wanted him moved to a halfway house in Mahoning County. He said Traficant would have the influence to get his son a lighter sentence.
Work done at the farm included drainage repairs, roads cut in, stone hauled, grading and the preparation of a manure pit, according to Sugar's testimony.
Craig S. Morford, lead prosecutor, asked Sugar today if Traficant inquired about the cost. Sugar said no.
"My understanding, I was doing it for free because he was helping me with my son," Sugar said. "He was asking for favors and I felt obligated."
Sugar said Traficant recommended using Atty. Mark S. Colucci in the Licking County case. Sugar said he was under the assumption that Colucci would not charge for the service because Traficant said Colucci "owed him some favors."
Sugar said his son took a company check and, without his knowledge, paid Colucci $7,000. Colucci later requested $25,000 more, Sugar said.
Sugar, very upset, told his son to go find another attorney and called Traficant. The congressman also advised not to pay Colucci any more, Sugar said.
So far, 39 witnesses have testified in the case against Traficant.
No-win situation? A law professor says that people shouldn't be so quick to count Traficant out -- he can be cunning,
"He's a fox," said Lewis R. Katz, who teaches law at Case Western Reserve University. "Everyone's inclination is to underestimate him, but he's much smarter than people think."
Katz summed up Traficant's self-representation by saying the congressman doesn't know what he's doing and needs a lawyer. That's not to say he won't be able to persuade one juror to see things his way, Katz said.
"He's played this game before," Katz said. When Traficant won acquittal representing himself in 1983 on bribery charges, everyone assumed the government had strong evidence then, too, the law professor said.
Evidence: Traficant's statements to reporters last week that the government has no "principal evidence" in its racketeering case against him is ridiculous, Katz said.
Traficant, of Poland, D-17th, contends that the prosecution, to prove its case, should have his fingerprints on incriminating evidence, a videotape or audiotape of him confessing to kickbacks. Someone, he maintains, should have worn a wire for the FBI.
"That's ridiculous -- they have statements from witnesses about kickbacks or how he took advantage of his position in Congress," Katz said.
"Who knows," Katz said about a possible defense. He said it would have to be a "widespread conspiracy" to fit into Traficant's 1983 vendetta theory.
Witnesses: If just one or two contractors testified they did work for free at Traficant's horse farm in Greenford, the congressman might make the argument stick that none of their testimony is true, Katz said. The parade of contractors, though, shows a "devastating pattern."
Even so, Katz finds the congressional staffers' kickbacks and farm work the most damaging testimony so far. He called it the "worst kind of exploitation."
Traficant claims witnesses were pressured to give the government something on him.
Katz said the 60-year-old congressman may get some witnesses to admit being pressured, but it doesn't necessarily change the point of their testimony. Oftentimes, he said, the witness -- or the relative of a witness -- can be threatened with prosecution.
There's no way to prosecute some crimes without going after the people who engage in the same behavior, Katz said.
Only two key witnesses remain: Sugar Sr. and J.J. Cafaro. That's not to say that the government has only two witnesses left to call.
The prosecution team -- Morford, Bernard A. Smith and Matthew B. Kall -- began with a list of 60-plus witnesses.
Trial's status: Today marks the 21st trial day, and the prosecution said it expected to complete its case within the next two weeks.
Although Traficant is not required to put on a defense, he says he will call witnesses on his behalf.
Since testimony began Feb. 13, the government has worked its way through five of the 10 counts -- conspiracy to commit bribery (key witness: Anthony R. Bucci); conspiracy to violate the bribery statute (key witness: R. Allen Sinclair), seeking and accepting illegal gratuities (Sinclair); obstruction of justice (Sinclair); conspiracy to defraud the United States (kickbacks, houseboat and farm labor).
The remaining counts include violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and two each of conspiracy to violate the bribery statute (Sugar and Cafaro) and tax evasion. The RICO count, which includes a $100,000 forfeiture, comprises all the crimes alleged.
Testimony: Sugar admitted in October 2000 that he lied to a grand jury when he said his company billed and received payment from the congressman for work. Sugar also admitted that he directed his secretary to create fake invoices and mailing dates and give the records to an FBI agent in response to a grand jury subpoena.
The work included trenches and the use of hay equipment at the farm and a concrete floor in a barn at Traficant's Poland residence.
Sugar faces 18 to 24 months in prison, but his cooperation -- testifying -- could reduce the sentence to 10 to 16 months.
Traficant is accused of contacting the Youngstown Central Area Community Improvement Corporation for Sugar, who wanted to win a contract to demolish the Higbee building downtown.
Sugar testified today that after a breakfast meeting in March 2000 with Traficant, the congressman agreed to intercede with the CIC to save the terra cotta at the Higbee building. The contractor explained that if the terra cotta was saved, he would win the contract. As it turned out, testimony has shown that the project was later rebid and saving the terra cotta was not a factor.
Sugar said at this time, in March 2000, he received 12 to 14 calls from Traficant, who wanted concrete poured at his barn in Poland, at his home. Sugar said he agreed to do it because of Traficant's help with the CIC.
Sugar said he was concerned about doing the work because he knew the FBI was watching and he was uncomfortable with what was going on. He said that's when he decided to make up the bills to show that he had billed Traficant -- which wasn't true.
Sugar said he also took a piano from Traficant's home as partial payment, even though he had no use for a piano.
Cafaro, a vice president with The Cafaro Co., is not expected to testify until next week. He has pleaded guilty to giving Traficant $13,000 in cash and paying for $26,000 worth of repairs on the congressman's houseboat in return for congressional favors.
First up this morning to testify was Sue Beegle, Sugar's former secretary at Honey Creek. She admitted that, at Sugar's direction, she falsified Traficant's invoices.
Documents: Last Friday, FBI Special Agent Deane Hassman said he first visited Sugar's company on April 26, 2000. At the time, Traficant's file had three documents in it, including a partial payment of $1,142.
The December 1999 payment was made about two weeks after the congressman's office and phone records were subpoenaed by Morford.
When Hassman returned May 18, 2000, he gave advance notice that he would arrive about 5:30 p.m. The Traficant file then contained a dozen documents.
On Hassman's third visit, May 23, 2000, a check of Beegle's office computer showed that some invoices had been created nearly a year after the date they represented. They also had been modified about 20 minutes before Hassman's May 18 visit, the computer showed.
Beegle said Sugar had directed her to create and back-date invoices showing billing and create a file for the FBI.
Beegle said she initially lied to the FBI, at Sugar's direction, confirming that her handwritten mailing dates on the invoices were accurate. Later, Beegle said she admitted to the FBI what she had done.
"I didn't want to lie," said Beegle, who now lives in Lexington, Ky.
Beegle, again at the direction of Sugar, also created invoices in March 2000 for hauling hay machines.
Under questioning today by Traficant, Beegle acknowledged that he never directed her to do anything.
On March 17, 2000, after a tip that machinery was being hauled away from Traficant's farm, the FBI set up surveillance and followed the flat-bed, registered to Sugar, to western Pennsylvania.
The equipment, described by Hassman as hay baling equipment, was delivered to Dean Foods property, owned by Kirila Construction.
David McLane of Boardman, who has worked for Honey Creek for 13 years, testified today that he delivered the farm equipment to Dean's Dairy in Sharpsville, Pa. McLane said he had first taken equipment to Kirila Construction in Brookfield but no one there seemed to know about the delivery.
He was told to wait, and then a man came out, got into a pickup truck and told him to follow, which he did to the property in Sharpsville.
McLane said he'd also delivered equipment and pea gravel to Traficant's Main Street home in Poland, where a Honey Creek crew was there to pour concrete in a barn.