WARREN 2 charged in contract kickbacks

After an initial cash payment, false invoices were funneled through another company to pay the kickbacks, the government says.
By DENISE DICKand PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- A father and son who owned a Warren construction company are accused in a federal bill of information of paying an unidentified city official $70,000 to obtain more than $770,000 in contracts.
Dante Massacci Jr., 33, of Shadowood Lane, Howland, and Dante Massacci Sr., 79, of Central Parkway Avenue S.E., are charged with one count each of conspiracy to interfere with commerce.
They could be sentenced to 20 years in prison and fined $250,000 if convicted.
The eight-page information says the Massaccis, who owned South Main Sand and Gravel, obtained six public and private contracts.
South Main Sand and Gravel is no longer in business.
The brief, filed in U.S. District Court in Cleveland on Thursday afternoon by William J. Edwards, an acting federal attorney, says the city official sought kickbacks from the Massaccis in return for the contracts from August 1994 to Oct. 6, 1997.
Mayor Hank Angelo was surprised by the charges.
"I can only assume it's the building official who is no longer with us," he said, adding he isn't referring to Wayne DaBelko, the chief building official who resigned last month.
The chief building official position was previously held by James Lapmardo.
"We've been aware of an investigation going on and hopefully if there's incidence of wrongdoing, that will be brought to a head," Angelo said.
What's in documents
In August and September 1994, the Massaccis talked with the city official, who told them that for $15,000, he could help the company get a demolition contract with Delphi Packard Electric Systems, according to the brief.
The company was awarded the $447,000 contract Sept. 14, 1994, and paid the public official $15,000, the document states.
After work on the Delphi contract was completed, the younger Massacci told the public official he could no longer pay him in cash for future contracts, according to the document.
"The city of Warren official advised that future payments would be funneled through another contractor, T & amp;J Construction, who would provide South Main Sand & amp; Gravel fraudulent subcontractor invoices," Edwards said.
In December 1995, the official had T & amp;J of Warren, owned by James Nicolaus, provide South Main with a fraudulent invoice of $9,985, according to the document. South Main then paid that amount to T & amp;J knowing the money would be used to pay the official, the document states.
In January 1996, the city official had T & amp;J submit a false invoice to South Main for work at the Mahoningside Power Plant and Sanitary Dairy, the document says. South Main paid $9,985 to T & amp;J to be used to pay the public official, the document says.
In July 1996, the official had T & amp;J submit a false invoice to South Main for $10,000 for work at the Mahoningside plant, "knowing such work had not been performed," the government says. South Main then paid $10,000 to T & amp;J knowing the funds would be used to pay the official, the document says.
The government contends the pattern continued with the Warren Music Center demolition contract in July 1996 for $8,250, and for Mahoningside Power Plant work in September 1996 for $18,500.
In March 1995, T & amp;J entered a contract with the city to build a clubhouse at Avalon South Golf Course.
After the contract was entered, the public official had the Massaccis "tear down the existing structure at the golf course resulting in the payment of between $4,000 and $5,000" to the Massaccis. They, in turn, paid the official about $2,000 for his help in obtaining the clubhouse contract from T & amp;J, according to the document.
Nicolaus has testified before a federal grand jury.
Other details
In September 1995, the official helped the Massaccis get the $54,691 city contract to demolish Sanitary Dairy on Youngstown Road S.E. T & amp;J then submitted false invoices to South Main to pay the public official for his help in obtaining the contract, the court brief says.
During April 1996, the public official helped South Main get an emergency $60,000 contract from the city to demolish Warren Music Center, East Market Street.
South Main paid the official through fraudulent invoices submitted by T & amp;J to South Main, knowing T & amp;J hadn't worked on the music center demolition, according to the brief.
The document says the activity continued with the March 1996 contract for a $115,000 environmental assessment of the Mahoningside Power Plant on Summit Street.
The information includes demolition of dilapidated buildings and homes in the city from March 1995 through Oct. 6, 1997.
The official agreed to help South Main get the contracts for $250 per home or building demolished, depending on the size. From 1995 to October 1997, the Massaccis demolished about 20 houses, New Hope Church and Stringers Lounge, for a total of about $93,234, the document states.
The information is the result of a joint investigation by the Youngstown FBI office and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information. Assistant U.S. Attorney David A. Sierleja is prosecuting the case.
According to city records, no competitive bids were sought for the work at Warren Music Center or Sanitary Dairy.
Fires at sites
Demolition of Warren Music Center began May 24, 1996. City officials said they did not have to seek competitive bids because they deemed it an emergency situation.
Demolition wrapped up in June, shortly after the structure caught fire. The cause of the fire is undetermined, according to fire department records.
The Bureau of Workers' Compensation now occupies the site.
The dairy, which was at 1296 Youngstown Road S.E., was being renovated at the time a fire broke out in December 1990.
Another fire was reported in October 1995, according to city records. The next day, then-Fire Chief Kent Fusselman ordered the building to be demolished immediately, citing its disrepair. It was torn down in 1996.
The city used community development money and some general fund money for work at both sites.
In the past year, investigators have taken numerous city records from community development, the auditor's office and the engineering, building and planning department that deal with contracts, all emergency board-up projects and housing rehabilitation.
Included were records on the demolition of the Regency Hotel.
James Matash, owner of M & amp;M Construction, which demolished the Regency Hotel in 2000, was sentenced last year to more than a year in prison for unlawfully acquiring the contract.
He was convicted of one count of bribery for agreeing to pay $5,000 to Lapmardo, who was the city's building official, to secure the contract.
Lapmardo has not been charged.
dick@vindy.comsinkovich@vindy.com