DETORE TRIAL Pool of jurors to be quizzed on Traficant

The government expects a two-week trial.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
CLEVELAND -- Prospective jurors in Richard E. Detore's bribery trial were to take a short quiz today to find how much they know about expelled U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr.
The jury pool, drawn from the Cleveland area, may recall press coverage of the ex-congressman's 10-week racketeering trial that ended April 11, 2002, with a guilty verdict and House ethics subcommittee hearings last July, carried live on C-SPAN. The case generated national coverage at the time, but Traficant virtually fell off the radar screen when he began serving an eight-year prison term July 30, 2002.
Detore, 43, of Fairfax County, Va., was indicted in October 2001 and charged with conspiracy to violate the federal bribery statute. The government said Detore, J.J. Cafaro and Albert Lange devised a scheme to conceal cash, gifts and boat repairs given to Traficant in return for official favors.
If found guilty, Detore faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Testified at hearings
Detore declined to testify at Traficant's trial and jeopardize his own case but did make a surprise appearance to testify at the subcommittee hearings in Washington, D.C.
Detore's sworn testimony before the subcommittee included an allegation that Craig S. Morford, lead prosecutor in Traficant's case, wanted him to lie and say he overheard Traficant and Cafaro discussing their bribery relationship. Morford denied the allegation.
Detore told the subcommittee that the government sought his indictment after granting him immunity from prosecution. He also claimed that his attorney-client privilege and due-process rights had been violated.
The allegations were used, unsuccessfully, by Detore to avoid trial.
The case is being prosecuted by Matthew B. Kall and Ann C. Rowland, assistant U.S. attorneys. The government expects the trial to last two weeks.
Detore is represented by Dallas attorney Thomas W. Mills Jr. and Cleveland attorney Elizabeth Kelley. At a final pretrial, Mills expressed a desire to determine just how much prospective jurors know about Traficant.
Agreed to questionnaire
Judge Ann Aldrich agreed to have jurors fill out a questionnaire this morning before jury selection. Twelve jurors and two alternates will be drawn.
Prosecutors will have the same witness lineup from the now-defunct USAerospace Group for the Detore trial that testified at Traficant's trial -- including Cafaro and Lange. Cafaro owned USAG in Manassas, Va., and employed Detore and Lange.
Cafaro and Lange implicated Detore in a scheme to conceal $26,000 in repairs to Traficant's vintage houseboat. Lange said cover stories were devised to make it appear that he really wanted to restore and own the boat, which he didn't.
Detore denies such a scheme took place. He said Lange really wanted the boat and had bragged about how much money he would make once it was restored and sold.
The government's case against Detore also includes an allegation that from April 1998 through December 1999, USAG paid $3,219 for meals at the Taverna in Washington, D.C., for Traficant and Detore.
Lange, who testified with immunity from prosecution at Traficant's trial, is expected to have the same deal now. Cafaro must testify, as he did against Traficant, according to terms of a plea agreement.
Prosecution witnesses will include former Traficant staffers who, at the congressman's direction, promoted USAG laser-guided technology with the Federal Aviation Administration.
In 1983, when Traficant was Mahoning County sheriff, Judge Aldrich presided over his first corruption trial. He won acquittal representing himself against charges that he took mob money during his campaign for sheriff.
Traficant again represented himself at trial last year. The jury found him guilty of racketeering, bribery and tax evasion.