MAHONING COUNTY Prosecutor's office rebuts motion alleging misconduct

The motion accused Prosecutor Paul Gains of knowing about an extortion scheme.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A motion filed last week by two defense attorneys, accusing current and former Mahoning County court officials of foul play, is nonsense and should be dismissed out of hand, Prosecutor Paul Gains says.
The motion was filed in common pleas court by Atty. Don L. Hanni Jr. and his daughter, Atty. Heidi Hanni Wolff, on behalf of John F. Sylvester Jr. They alleged that former prosecutor James A. Philomena tried to extort money from Sylvester's family to help resolve a criminal case.
They also contended that Gains and defense Attorney J. Gerald Ingram, who originally represented Sylvester, knew about the scheme and did nothing to stop it.
Sylvester, 28, of Jaguar Drive, Boardman, is serving seven to 25 years in prison for the attempted murder of his former girlfriend, Nicole Pascarella. Witnesses said Sylvester grabbed Pascarella in a headlock and shot her in the face four times in June 1996. She survived.
Accusations
The Hannis' motion says that after Philomena left office, he began representing Pascarella for a possible civil action against Sylvester. They contend Philomena tried to coerce Sylvester's family into paying Pascarella as much as $250,000 in exchange for prosecutors' recommending a definite prison sentence instead of the indefinite sentence he received.
The Hannis asked Judge Robert Lisotto to shorten Sylvester's sentence and release him from prison based on what they said were improprieties in the case.
The prosecutor's office filed a 13-page response Friday, asking Judge Lisotto to dismiss the early release request without even holding a hearing. It was signed by Gains and assistant prosecutor Robert Andrews.
"Nowhere in his nebulous motion for some sort of relief does the defendant mention or claim that he did not shoot the victim in front of four witnesses, or that he is not guilty of the offense for which he is presently in prison," the response says.
Ineligible
It says Sylvester does not qualify for early release under any circumstances. It also says Sylvester could not have gotten a flat-time sentence because Ohio law at that time did not allow it. Instead, the law required a range of indefinite sentences.
"The defendant's nonsensical argument, attempting to apply some illogical and unexplained mathematical formula, deserves no other comment than to say that it is plainly nonsensical," the prosecutors' response says.
Besides arguing that Sylvester is not eligible for early release, the prosecutors said too much time has lapsed for his lawyers to even ask for it.
Gains and Andrews also noted that the Hannis had already asked Judge Lisotto to grant Sylvester judicial release in January, and were denied.
They wrote that the Hannis "purposely sought to embarrass, besmirch and harass" Gains, Ingram and Pascarella with their filing.
bjackson@vindy.com