FEDERAL COURT Letters support Cafaro's character

His cooperation with the government began nearly three years ago.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
CLEVELAND -- Mall developer J.J. Cafaro's sentencing today brought forth letters of support from a WNIO radio host, UAW president, Jesuit priest and retired Ohio Supreme Court justice.
In May 2001, Cafaro, 49, of Liberty, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to conspiring to provide an unlawful gratuity to former U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr.
Cafaro admitted providing Traficant with cash, boat repairs and gifts in exchange for official favors.
Congress expelled Traficant on July 24 and he began serving an eight-year prison sentence July 30.
Cafaro's sentencing was scheduled for 12:30 p.m. today.
The government, represented by Craig S. Morford, assistant U.S. attorney, was expected to ask that Cafaro be given credit for substantial assistance in the case against Traficant.
If U.S. District Judge Solomon Oliver Jr. agrees, Cafaro would receive a sentence of zero to six months, which makes him eligible for probation.
Without credit for substantial assistance, the range within the sentencing guidelines is a minimum of four months to a maximum of 18 months.
At the lower end, he would qualify for a split between probation and home confinement. At the higher end, a portion of the time must be spent in prison.
Cafaro's Cleveland lawyer, Geoffrey S. Mearns, provided a sentencing memorandum to the judge and letters of support.
Who wrote
The letters came from family members as well as Pete Gabriel, WNIO radio host; Jim Graham, president of UAW Local 1112, General Motors, Lordstown; Asher W. Sweeney, retired Ohio Supreme Court justice; and the Rev. Thomas S. Acker, former president of Wheeling Jesuit University.
Gabriel said Cafaro has, without publicity for 20 years, paid thousands of dollars each Christmas to help a needy family who had a child being treated at Shriners Hospital in Erie. The giving is coordinated by Youngstown Shriners, who each year recommend a family and provide a wish list.
"J.J., as I know him, has shown me time and again that he is a caring person," Gabriel wrote. "May I ask that you consider this letter as an example of Mr. Cafaro's true character."
Graham also reflected on Cafaro's philanthropic deeds. "He will roll up his sleeves and dig in for whatever cause to promote this Valley and help make it better," the union president wrote.
Sweeney, a justice from 1977 until 1994 and native of the Youngstown area, said Cafaro gave time and resources to bring Youngstown "out of the doldrums from the steel business closures."
Everyone, from time to time, will make a mistake in judgment, Sweeney wrote. "I would hope that any such lapse by Mr. Cafaro would be measured against a lifetime of good deeds and selfless concern for those less fortunate."
Acker, now executive director for Forward South West Virginia, an economic development arm for southern West Virginia, said he's known the Cafaro family for nearly 20 years. He said Cafaro's drive to bring good jobs to the Valley led him to cross the line.
The priest recommended probation.
Story from childhood
Cafaro's wife of 30 years, Janet, recalled a story from when they were third-graders at St. Edward School on the city's North Side.
She was shy but was required to go to the front of the classroom to sell brownies she'd made for a bake sale. "I was barely up there a moment when Jay handed me $5 to buy them all."
She said he understood how scared she was to be up in front of the class and wanted to alleviate her fears. His big heart, she said, is the same today as it was at that bake sale when they were 8 years old.
Mearns, in his sentencing memorandum, said Cafaro has cooperated with the government for nearly three years, soon after the Traficant investigation was made public.
He supplied thousands of documents that showed the dealings he had with Traficant and Richard E. Detore, the lawyer said.
Detore, a Virginia engineer, once held an executive position in Cafaro's now-defunct USAerospace Group, based in Manassas, Va. Also charged with taking part in the scheme to bribe Traficant, Detore is set for trial in March.
Cafaro testified against Traficant and will testify against Detore.
Traficant and Detore hatched the plan to have Cafaro pay for the congressman's boat repairs, Mearns said. Traficant, the lawyer said, expanded the scheme to include gifts and cash.
Mearns said Cafaro has been subjected to character assassination from Traficant and Detore. The lawyer pointed out that at sentencing, the judge told Traficant: "The truth is rarely in you. You practice intimidation; you practice distortion."
Detore actively joined in the campaign, Mearns said in court papers.
meade@vindy.com