Testimony centers on repairs to Traficant's boat

The ex-congressman's former chief of staff was to testify today.
& lt;a href=mailto:meade@vindy.com & gt;By PATRICIA MEADE & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
CLEVELAND -- Grainy photos of a dilapidated, leaky, 37-foot, 1970s wooden boat owned by then-U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. appeared on a large screen while a witness explained to the jury the "cover story" for $26,000 worth of repairs.
As FBI Special Agent Mike Pikunas displayed the photos in U.S. District Court, engineer Albert Lange Jr. testified that he told repairmen and the Eastern Powerboat Club in Washington, D.C. -- where the boat was kept on the Anacostia River -- that he had a "nostalgic interest" in the decrepit boat he was buying and restoring in 1998.
The truth, he said, is that his employer at the time, J.J. Cafaro, was paying the repair bills and buying the boat in return for Traficant's promotion of Cafaro's USAerospace Group laser-lights technology with the Federal Aviation Administration.
Pikunas also displayed records Lange kept of the repairs and checks Cafaro wrote to pay for the work. Some members of the jury took notes as they followed the testimony and glanced at the projection screen.
Lange, 47, of Manassas, Va., where USAG was based, testified Tuesday with immunity from prosecution at Richard E. Detore's trial, as he did 15 months ago at Traficant's racketeering trial.
Lange identified Detore for the jury by pointing to him at the defense table in Judge Ann Aldrich's court and describing his clothes as "a dark gray suit, blue shirt and nice tie." Detore, standing by then, flashed a tiny smile at the tie compliment.
What's happening
Detore, who served as USAG's chief operating officer until he was fired by Cafaro in early 2000, entered his third trial day today, with Lange back on the stand to answer questions posed by Ann C. Rowland, an assistant U.S. attorney.
The government said Detore, 43, of Clifton, Va., conspired with Lange and Cafaro to give Traficant illegal gratuities.
Lange said the way Cafaro and Detore explained away the gifts, which included a welder and generator, was that "Jim's doing favors for us and we need to do favors for him."
Lange said Detore was angered when his name was put on an $8,000 check that Cafaro sent for boat repairs. The witness said no one was supposed to know about the boat-repair scheme and checks for the work had previously been made out to cash.
When USAG experienced financial difficulties, Lange said the checks stopped coming and he canceled his membership at the Eastern Powerboat Club, which was really Traficant's membership. He said Traficant called him at home in May 2000 and wanted $500 to cover slip fees and electric bills.
Lange bought a $500 money order and sent it in to the boat club in Traficant's name. Lange said when he tried to get reimbursed, Cafaro's daughter, Capri Cafaro, USAG president, told him she wasn't going to give any more money to the congressman, who was then under investigation by the FBI.
"I figured it was worth $500 to get him off my back," Lange told the jury. He said Traficant often bugged him at home.
Lange said that he, Detore and Traficant would frequently have dinner at Taverna, a Greek restaurant in Washington, and USAG would pay. Lange couldn't recall a time when Traficant paid.
Accusation
The government said USAG spent more than $3,000 to wine and dine Traficant while he tried to get USAG's technology certified by the FAA in 1998 and 1999.
In his opening statement, Detore's lead attorney, Thomas W. Mills Jr. of Dallas, said when Detore takes the stand, he will tell the jury that Traficant did reciprocate, paying for lunch or dinner at the House cafeteria. "It's the way people do business," the lawyer said.
Lange testified that Traficant was able to get Jane Garvey, head of the FAA, to take a test flight and see the laser-lights landing technology operate.
He said the congressman also secured a $4 million appropriation for USAG for an Army contract, but USAG lacked the money to complete the tests needed for FAA certification and lost out.
Marcone's testimony
After Lange's cross-examination today, the government intended to call Paul P. Marcone, who served as Traficant's chief of staff-press secretary until November 2000, a month before the government subpoenaed the congressman's office and phone records.
Marcone's testimony will focus on how hard congressional staffers worked to promote USAG. He'll also say that a House ethics committee lawyer, given a hypothetical situation, OK'd the boat sale if the fair market price were paid.
Mills told jurors that witnesses such as Cafaro and Lange would come into court and lie. Mills said Detore didn't know that Traficant was taking illegal gratuities.
Cafaro will testify this week as a condition of his plea agreement. He received 15 months' probation for his part in corrupting Traficant, who received an eight-year prison sentence July 30, 2002, a week after the House expelled him.
Geoffrey S. Mearns, Cafaro's Cleveland attorney, was in court Tuesday to hear Lange's testimony. Cafaro paid for Lange to have another attorney during the Traficant investigation.
& lt;a href=mailto:meade@vindy.com & gt;meade@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;