TRAFICANT ON TRIAL Congressman is coming to end of witness list

Traficant has at least two more staffers he said he intended to call.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
CLEVELAND -- U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. has few witnesses left to call in his defense as his racketeering trial enters its ninth week.
So far, he has called his farmhand, 12 friends and five congressional staffers to testify on his behalf.
Traficant of Poland, D-17th, has subpoenaed at least one more staffer, Josephine Hulett of Youngstown. He's also said that another staffer, Danette R. Palmer, who works out of his Washington, D.C., office and generally serves as his driver to court, would testify.
Other witnesses: Aside from friends or employees, Traficant also had a records custodian from Home Savings and Loan testify. The woman had already appeared as a government witness in the congressman's trial.
Traficant also called to the stand a man he helped several years ago who had been convicted of attempted murder and drug charges and sought privileges at a halfway facility.
The jury -- nine women and three men -- has heard from 18 of the 19 defense witnesses who gave testimony. The trial resumes Monday.
Jurors were not present when Traficant's friend, Russell J. Saadey Jr. of Austintown, testified about a conversation he had with his brother-in-law, James R. Sabatine. U.S. District Judge Lesley Brooks Wells will decide if the testimony can be heard as evidence.
Sabatine testified for the prosecution, admitting that he gave Traficant a $2,400 bribe in August 1998. Saadey contends Sabatine called the $2,400 a political contribution but testified for the government to protect himself from losing everything he had.
Question of evidence: Traficant hasn't been able to convince the judge that the conversations some of his witnesses had -- that rebut key points in his 10-count indictment -- can be used as evidence. The judge has also denied the congressman's request to play four audiotapes for the jury that contain his conversations with witnesses or co-defendants.
The judge has explained that statements made by someone not subject to cross-examination and not under oath can only be admitted when certain exceptions to the hearsay rule have been met. She said Traficant has failed to do that.
The judge, Traficant maintains, has effectively crippled his defense.
The government and Traficant bombarded the judge with motions last week about hearsay testimony given outside the jury's presence. The government wants it out, the congressman wants it in.
So far, Traficant's defense witnesses have included:
UWilliam Coleman, a retired Youngstown bailiff and Traficant friend, described being with Dennis C. Johnson when Johnson was called away by Charles P. O'Nesti for a private talk and when Johnson was called away by J.J. Cafaro for a private talk.
U Johnson, a congressional staffer from Salem, testified for only about five minutes in front of the jury. He then testified, outside the jury's presence, that he was told by O'Nesti, near death at the time, that the government wanted O'Nesti to say things that weren't true and he feared going to a prison medical facility. Previous testimony heard by the jury has show that O'Nesti, now dead, kicked back part of his salary each month to the congressman.
Johnson also testified, outside the jury's presence, that Cafaro said he and Traficant did nothing illegal but Cafaro had a problem that involved lying under oath at a federal trial in 1999. Cafaro testified for the prosecution in Traficant's trial, admitting that he gave the congressman cash and gifts in return for favors.
U Harry Manganaro, a Youngstown demolition contractor who's been longtime friends with Traficant and A. David Sugar Sr., owner of Honey Creek Contracting in Petersburg. Manganaro testified that Sugar was frightened by the FBI agents who came to Sugar's office. Sugar has said just the opposite, that the FBI agents were very nice. Sugar pleaded guilty to his part in the Traficant case, faking invoices for work at the congressman's Greenford horse farm, and testified as government witness.
U Susan Bucci, Traficant's friend and former neighbor on state Route 165, testified that the congressman paid her $1,000 for hay wagons and assorted items and said he didn't like her brother-in-law, Anthony R. Bucci. Susan Bucci had no firsthand knowledge of work Anthony Bucci did at Traficant's farm or what the congressman did in return. Anthony Bucci testified that he accepted congressional favors as payment.
U Bryan Kidwell of Vienna testified 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, and didn't see Cafaro. Kidwell and Traficant are friends and have hunted together. Cafaro said he gave the congressman $13,000 in cash Nov. 14, 1998, at YSU. Kidwell also said he has an aluminum welder to do work for Cafaro, but Cafaro said he gave the $2,900 welder to Traficant as a gift.
U John Innella, who, with his family has lived and worked at Traficant's farm for 18 months, testified that a 1993 addition on the farmhouse was a "butcher job." Innella acknowledged that he hasn't done construction work since the mid-1970s. Previous testimony has show that Bernard J. Bucheit, now under indictment, had his construction crews do the work in return for a congressional favor.
U Dominic Marchese of Farmdale, a member of Traficant's staff, testified that the 1993 addition appeared to be a "do-it-yourself" project and submitted pictures he took of the work a few days before coming to court. Marchese acknowledged that he didn't see the work when it was done in 1993.
U Michael S. Terlecky of Canfield, convicted 12 years ago of taking mob bribes, began his testimony by recalling his indictment, arrest and prison sentence. Terlecky had been a lieutenant at the Mahoning County Sheriff's Department. Judge Wells first questioned the relevance of his testimony then sent the jury out so Terlecky could recall a conversation he said he had with O'Nesti, when O'Nesti saw a newspaper headline about kickbacks in the summer of 1999. The flaw in Terlecky's story was that O'Nesti hadn't been asked about kickbacks then, the government said. Terlecky and Traficant are friends and the congressman says he wants to get Terleckly a presidential pardon.
UDomenic Paolone Jr. of Youngstown testified that he advised Anthony R. Bucci how to get privileges while both were in a halfway house, saying Bucci should have a family member contact Traficant. The government pointed out that Bucci did just that -- had his brother first intercede.
URobert Barlow of Boardman, a congressional staffer, said Henry A. DiBlasio worked hard. Previous testimony has shown that DiBlasio, who maintained a full-time law practice, did little work for a high congressional salary and kicked back part of it to Traficant. DiBlasio is under indictment.
Barlow also testified to often seeing Traficant in R. Allen Sinclair's office and Sinclair showed no fear toward the congressman. Sinclair testified that he kicked back $2,500 each month and described the bizarre and fearful relationship he had with Traficant once the congressman knew Sinclair had to testify at the grand jury in early 2000.
Barlow said O'Nesti wasn't close friends with former staffers Jackie Bobby and Grace Yavorsky Kavulic. The women testified about conversations they had with O'Nesti, in which he grumbled about kicking back part of his salary.
U Anthony T. Traficanti of Poland, a congressional staffer, testified that DiBlasio worked hard then acknowledged under cross-examination they had only a "hi and good-bye" relationship. Traficanti said that he lent a hand at the farm and went willingly, mostly on weekends. When compared with what he told the grand jury about DiBlasio and work at the farm, it didn't quite match.
Traficanti acknowledged under cross-examination that the congressman could hand out as many vacation days as he wanted.
The congressman is accused of having three staffers, Traficanti, Richard Rovnak and George F. Buccella, do work at the farm while collecting their federal paychecks. Buccella and Rovnak are no longer on staff.
U Linda J. Kovachik of Youngstown, a member of Traficant's staff, tried to testify to a conversation she said took place when O'Nesti encouraged her to rejoin the staff.
"I said, 'I don't know about these kickbacks, Mr. O'Nesti.' He says he had not [kicked back]," Kovachik testified.
The judge later had Kovachik testify without the jury present. At that time, Kovachik got the conversation backward and quoted O'Nesti as saying: "I had not gotten any kickbacks from Jim."
UAlbert M. Gibson of Mantua, a longtime Traficant friend, testified that he helped build a deer tree stand on the congressman's property and got paid for the work.
USandra J. Ferrante, who lived at Traficant's farm for 17 years, denied being his girlfriend, although she said they were very close. She testified that she felt used by the FBI, who put her in protective custody after discovering a plot to kill her by a farmhand. 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.
UYoungstown attorney Mark S. Colucci, a longtime Traficant friend, testified that, to the best of his recollection, he did not try to charge A. David Sugar Sr. $25,000 to handle a case for Sugar's son. Sugar testified to that amount. Colucci didn't get far when he tried to describe how Broad, the farmhand he tried to represent, was frightened by the government. Judge Wells cut off the hearsay comments.
UGeorge Hooker of Uhrichsville testified that the FBI asked if Traficant paid for a horse Hooker sold in 1985. Hooker said he received payment and said he'd known Traficant's horse trainer, Ferrante, for more than 30 years.
UGreg Tyson testified that he never took "Sarge," the stallion Traficant used as pay for farm work, but Tyson considered the horse as payment nevertheless. Under cross-examination, Tyson acknowledged that he never took the horse off Traficant's property and doesn't know if it's dead or alive.
The government said the 60-year-old congressman interceded on Tyson's behalf to obtain more than $900,000 in loans from Bank One in 1994, which Tyson defaulted on within eight months. In return, Tyson installed concrete floors in a barn, drainage pipes and waterlines and delivered and spread gravel at Traficant's horse farm, the government said.