TRAFICANT ON TRIAL Witnesses criticize construction quality

A member of the congressman's staff said the farmhouse addition looked like a 'do-it-yourself project.'
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
CLEVELAND -- Construction of an addition to the farmhouse at the Traficant family horse farm in Greenford was at the core of testimony today in the trial of U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr.
John Innella, who's lived at Traficant's farm the past 18 months, testified this morning in U.S. District Court ostensibly as an expert on construction.
Innella referred to the farm as Elizabeth Traficant's, a daughter of the congressman.
Traficant asked several questions to have Innella describe construction of a farmhouse addition at the Traficant farm. Innella said it was "a butcher job."
Previous testimony has shown that Bernard J. Bucheit had the addition put onto the farmhouse and did not require payment, in return for congressional favors. Bucheit, who once owned Bucheit International in Boardman, is under indictment.
Under cross-examination by lead prosecutor Craig S. Morford, Innella acknowledged that he hasn't done any construction since 1976.
"You're really not an expert?" Morford asked.
Innella said he had two years of vocational education and grew up in the construction business. He said he has a verbal agreement, a gentleman's agreement with Traficant. He and his family stay at the farmhouse rent-free, and in return he cleans the horse stalls and takes care of other tasks.
Staffer: Dominic Marchese of Farmdale, a congressional staff member since April 1, 2000, and a Johnston Township trustee, also was called to testify about his knowledge of construction. He said his father had a construction company and had built 200 homes in the Warren area, and he himself was a journeyman bricklayer.
Marchese said he inspected an addition to Traficant's farmhouse last Saturday and brought pictures to court today.
The two-story addition was erected in 1993 by Bucheit International.
The government objected to Marchese's assessment of the construction, saying he is just giving his opinion.
"People in construction wouldn't do it that way," Marchese said. "It looked more like a do-it-yourself project."
Judge Lesley Brooks Wells took the morning break to allow Marchese to organize the photographs he took, which he says depict damage to the house caused by the shoddy construction.
Leisel Bucheit has testified that a bill for the construction work was sent to Traficant in 1993 and was not paid by the time she left the company in 1996.
Saadey: Also called as a witness today was Russell J. Saadey Jr. of Austintown. Saadey, known as "Champ," showed up with his lawyer, Brian P. Kopp, who expressed concern that his client could face criminal action and suggested that Saadey would invoke his Fifth Amendment right, depending on the questions asked.
Judge Wells said she would deal with Saadey's concerns at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, because his lawyer had another commitment this afternoon.
Saadey will be sentenced April 19 in federal court in an unrelated corruption case.
Alibi: Monday, the congressman's alibi witness testified that Traficant couldn't have been in J.J. Cafaro's green Cadillac collecting $13,000 in cash.
Bryan Kidwell said that he picked up Traficant at Youngstown State University the morning of Nov. 14, although he wasn't sure if it was 1998 or 1999. Kidwell, a metal welder from Vienna, was sure of the day because his birthday is Nov. 15.
Kidwell testified that Traficant, of Poland, D-17th, came out of the building at YSU with a short man with gray hair -- not with Cafaro. Kidwell said he and Traficant then went to the congressman's office in Boardman to pick up parts of a tree stand they were building for deer hunting.
Cafaro testified last week that the exchange of cash took place Nov. 14, 1998, as he and Traficant rode around YSU after an economic development tax committee meeting.
Traficant had asked for the $13,000, half the purchase price ($26,948) of his 37-foot wooden boat near Washington, D.C., Cafaro said.
The Cafaro family has a mall development company based in Youngstown.
Cafaro testimony: USAerospace Group, owned by Cafaro, had acquired technology for laser-landing lights to be used at commercial airports and he sought Traficant's help in getting Federal Aviation Administration certification. The company folded in early 2000.
Cafaro testified that he first suggested to Traficant sending the partial payment of $13,000 to Albert Lange Jr. at USAG in Manassas, Va., but Traficant said no and gave a silent request for the cash by rubbing his thumb, index and middle fingers together.
Lange said he served as the "front man" in a scheme to conceal Cafaro's paying for repairs to the boat and the purchase of it. Cafaro says he provided an illegal gratuity to Traficant -- nearly $40,000 in cash and boat repairs -- in return for congressional favors.
Welding machine: Lange also testified that USAG bought and turned over to Traficant as gifts a welding apparatus worth $2,915 and gas generator worth $2,714 in 1999. The congressman needed the equipment to build or rebuild a horse trailer, Lange said.
Kidwell testified that he took possession of the welder and generator from Traficant, adding that neither has been used. Traficant arranged to have the jury view the welding machine today.
Kidwell said he needed the equipment to make aluminum trailers for USAG once the prototype had been built by someone else. Kidwell said he thought he might be able to build the trailers cheaper.
A company in Canfield had been chosen to build a prototype aluminum trailer to carry the landing lights technology, Cafaro has said.
Traficant asked Kidwell to describe Cafaro's reputation "back home."
"Swindler," came the reply.
When Morford questioned the witness, Kidwell acknowledged that he had no letter, no contract, no orders from USAG, only drawings for the trailer given to him by Traficant. Kidwell said he didn't find it strange that USAG would do business with a welder working out of his garage.
Kidwell added that he doesn't have the "wherewithal" to fulfill military contracts.
Kidwell also didn't find it strange that USAG would order the welding machine shipped from the seller in New Jersey to Virginia then have it delivered to Traficant's truck in Washington. Lange has testified that he and Richard E. Detore, Traficant's co-defendant, delivered the welding equipment to the congressman on Capitol Hill.
Kidwell said that although he and Traficant, a good friend, had discussed building a large aluminum horse trailer with sleeping quarters, that's not why he had the aluminum welder. Kidwell said his own welder is not used for aluminum.
Kidwell said Detore had called once to reclaim the welder but then left the company.
The generator burned in a fire at his rental property next door to his home on Youngstown-Kingsville Road, Kidwell testified. He said he tried to collect the insurance, even though the generator wasn't his.
Ferrante: Sandra J. Ferrante, who lived at Traficant's horse farm in Greenford for 17 years, testified Monday that she felt used by the FBI, who put her in protective custody after discovering a plot to kill her by a farmhand. FBI agents had played an audio tape for her in which the farmhand, Clarence Broad, unknowingly told an undercover agent of his plans to have her killed.
She said she felt used because she didn't understand why the episode wasn't part of Traficant's indictment and why she wasn't called by the prosecution to testify. She said she went to the farm to apologize to Traficant for giving press interviews when the murder plot surfaced.
Traficant was never tied to the plot hatched by Broad, who pleaded guilty to tampering with a grand jury witness.
Ferrante, who gave long disjointed answers during her court appearance, said Morford wasn't very nice to her when she testified at the grand jury. She said he asked questions about her shoplifting episodes and how she would contact Traficant's district director when she got arrested.
"I felt belittled. I felt ashamed," Ferrante said.
Morford said maybe she felt he didn't like her at the grand jury because when she would go off into long stories he would ask her to focus.
She said some people can say things in two words, but she takes 10 words.
Earlier, Traficant had asked Ferrante "Are you my girlfriend?" a reference to testimony by a man who labored at the farm. Ferrante said no.
"Are you my dear friend?" the congressman asked. Ferrante said yes.
Ferrante said, though, that she will always have a little doubt whether Traficant was part "of that little deal on the tape."
She said Traficant's father owned the farm when she was there. The congressman has said he doesn't own the farm and therefore wasn't responsible for work done there by contractors.
The following, meanwhile, reflects excerpts from an interview The Vindicator did with Ferrante in December 2000
She said that in late August 2000, FBI agents told her about the plot to kill her. She said she listened to an audio tape that described the $10,000 murder-for-hire plan in grisly detail and her skin crawled.
"They told me not to go back to the farm," Ferrante said. "They really were wonderful."
"It upsets me to think when somebody has threatened my life -- like Clarence Broad -- that [Traficant] would go on national radio and television and say 'my good friend' and stand behind him," Ferrante said. "I've also heard that he has tried to get him assistance with an attorney, and I'm just really hurt over it. ... I just can't believe he would not want to bust [Broad's] head in."
She said Broad at times neglected to give the horses their evening meal, and she described the stalls as very dirty.
"I let him go. I said 'I don't want you here, the horses are being neglected,' and he was gone about a month and a half, and one day Jim told me he was hiring his good friend back," Ferrante said.
In December 2000, Ferrante defended the FBI and Morford, saying that Traficant's attacks on them were "BS."
During cross-examination by Morford, Ferrante said she and Traficant got into a huge fight when he hired Broad back. She said she sliced Traficant's tires, on several occasions, knowing that was the way to get to him, in his pocket.
Ferrante said she told Broad once that instead of cutting the tires she ought to shove the knife in him.
Morford reminded her that she told the grand jury that Traficant treated her like a wife.
"We weren't involved sexually, if that's what you're getting at," Ferrante told Morford.
The prosecutor also reminded her that she told the grand jury that Traficant, after one of the tire-slashing episodes, told Broad: "We need to get her out of here."
Sanctions: After court, Traficant was asked about the government's motion to impose sanctions on him because of "blatant and intentional misconduct."
"They can shove their sanctions up their subpoenas," the congressman said.
Traficant filed a response this morning, saying the government's motion is par for the course. He said prosecutors want everything their way, which now includes telling the judge when and how to impose sanctions.
"This is simply another attempt by the government to hide behind citations of law and not face the stern defense brought forward," the congressman's response states.
Of Ferrante, Traficant said: "Sandy told the truth. She's a helluva woman. And you know what? She was easy on Morford. ... What they wanted from her is quite simple and speaks to what is going on in this case. They thought she had something on me ... she knew of no illegal acts."
Traficant said he's heard from his constituents that he's not been receiving fair press coverage.
"This is a damn horse race. And you know what? Right now they better come up with something real damn good," the congressman told reporters. "They're getting their a---- kicked."