TRAFICANT TRIAL U.S. has 4 more to call to stand

The address of one defense witness is the congressman's horse farm in Greenford.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
CLEVELAND -- U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. has subpoenaed a man who says he overheard a conversation the congressman had with grocer Henry P. Nemenz about government threats.
Although Nemenz had been expected to be called as a prosecution witness, he didn't make the final cut announced last Friday. The government has four witnesses to call, including multimillionaire J.J. Cafaro, before it rests its case.
Traficant's racketeering trial entered its seventh week today.
Last December, the government said Nemenz, who has stores in the Youngstown-Columbiana area, would testify that Traficant, of Poland, D-17th, paid only $25,000 for an $89,000 pole barn/riding arena. The barn was erected on Traficant's 76-acre horse farm in Greenford in 1994 by six Amish craftsmen hired by Nemenz's Colonial Structures.
Subpoenaed by defense: Traficant has subpoenaed John Innella of 6908 W. South Range Road -- the address of the congressman's horse farm. Innella's subpoena shows that he is due to appear as a defense witness Tuesday.
Innella supplied an affidavit last August that related a conversation he says he overheard Traficant have with Nemenz sometime before the affidavit.
Innella quoted Nemenz as saying that Craig S. Morford, lead prosecutor, "put words in my mouth" and that his lawyer told him to "tell Morford what they want to hear" so that he would not be indicted.
Innella said in his affidavit that Traficant and Nemenz agreed that the pole barn construction bill had been paid in full. At the time of the affidavit, which was rejected by U.S. District Judge Lesley Brooks Wells as double hearsay, Traficant was trying to remove Morford from the case, alleging prosecutorial misconduct.
Hearsay has been a daily hurdle for Traficant throughout the trial. The judge has repeatedly warned him that witnesses cannot relate conversations they had with someone else. The person the witness had the conversation with must testify, if that person is available, which generally means not dead or under indictment.
Nemenz, meanwhile, did have a chance encounter with Traficant at a local restaurant after a Rotary meeting. The congressman was with another man Nemenz didn't know. J. Gerald Ingram, Nemenz's Boardman lawyer, said when the affidavit was filed that the man could have been Innella.
"Henry Nemenz denies and disputes the words attributed to him by Mr. Innella and denies that he was ever coerced or cajoled by the government," Ingram said last August. "I attended every meeting as Mr. Nemenz's legal adviser and at no point was there an air of intimidation or any impropriety."
Government allegations: As time went on during the construction period, Traficant increased the project until it grew to three times what Nemenz had agreed to do at cost for $25,000, the government said.
Traficant, instead of paying when Nemenz submitted bills, offered to intercede in a labor dispute Nemenz had at the time with United Food and Commercial Workers Local 880, the government said. Traficant, during a stint as host on WRRO radio in Warren, did a remote broadcast from one of Nemenz's stores on May 16, 1994, and urged his constituents to cross the UFCW picket line at the store.
Despite fears of suing a popular congressman who had influence with labor, Nemenz hired a lawyer in 1997 to try to get his money back. Believing after a series of negotiations that he would never get his money, Nemenz agreed to a settlement worked out by Claire Maluso, a Traficant staffer.
Nemenz had also bought a four-wheel drive truck worth $23,234 for Traficant, made the down payment of $1,500 and made monthly payments of $439 for 38 months and paid the insurance. Traficant, Nemenz said in court papers, wanted the truck to tow his horses to and from shows.
Audiotape: In addition to Innella as a witness, Traficant has submitted an audiotape of a conversation he had with Robin Best, who once co-owned WRRO, where Nemenz was an investor. Nemenz, Best and Traficant were social friends.
Traficant has nine tapes he wants to play for the jury, some made with co-defendants who will not testify. Judge Wells must decide if the tapes can be used.
Last month, Traficant submitted a transcript of the conversation he had with Best. It has pages missing, names and other information blacked out.
"If I talk to you, you can't be putting on a tape recorder," Best said.
"Oh, get out of here. When were you ever worried about something like that anyway?" the congressman cajoled. "You've been known to tell it like it is. Who's kidding whom?"
"I mean it," Best warned.
"Don't worry about that. What's going on?" Traficant said, pushing.
Obviously satisfied that her conversation last September with Traficant was private, Best discussed the racketeering case.
"People are saying anything now to avoid the heat. But you see, Henry, by telling the truth, can finally put this prosecutor [Morford] right on the spot," Traficant told Best on the tape. "He has been pressuring and twisting people and pressuring them and Henry wasn't bullsh------ me. That's the exact words he used."
"He was not bullsh------ you, but Jim, he doesn't want to get indicted and here's the truth: If he doesn't play it their way, they'll find a reason to indict him and probably indict me for something," Best said.
After this exchange, the transcript skips three pages.
"You should see the paperwork they created," Best said. "You should see the paperwork they created on you and me at the radio station."
"For what?" Traficant asked.
"They accused us of embezzling [several words blacked out]," Best replied.
Later, Best said: "Evidently they had this paper trail of all the little notes I sent [blacked out], all your meetings with [blacked out] remember [blacked out]."
"Yeah, to help you guys. That was about it," Traficant said. "They made something sinister out of it."
"Very much so," Best said.
Traficant request rejected: Over the weekend, meanwhile, Judge Wells rejected Traficant's request to obtain the sealed transcript of a closed hearing conducted last summer in an unrelated case in which FBI Special Agent Tony Speranza participated. Speranza was not one of the two case agents assigned to investigate Traficant.
Traficant has not explained how he has knowledge of what took place during the closed hearing. The participants were instructed to not disclose the details.
Until Traficant can establish a link between his case and Speranza, the congressman cannot call the agent as a witness, Judge Wells said. The government says it wants Traficant to show the relevance of any FBI agents he may call as witnesses before the agents take the stand.
Motion denied: The judge also denied Traficant's motion to prohibit government agents from harassing or intimidating a defense witness, Danette R. Palmer. While Traficant is in Cleveland for trial, Palmer is the congressman's driver and liaison with his Washington, D.C., and district offices.
She says she has been unnerved by an FBI agent who asked why she tried to get into the locked courtroom one day. The woman said she sought medical attention after the agent spoke to her.
meade@vindy.com