FBI shows Traficant paper trail

Employees of the Cafaro Co. were to testify today.
& lt;a href=mailto:meade@vindy.com & gt;By PATRICIA MEADE & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
CLEVELAND -- An endless stream of documents continued today in U.S. District Court to show the quest of multimillionaire J.J. Cafaro for government contracts and the gifts he bestowed on a corrupt congressman who tried to make it happen.
Although the defendant on trial is Richard E. Detore, a Virginia engineer and pilot, the jury in Judge Ann Aldrich's court is learning more about Cafaro, a felon on probation, and James A. Traficant Jr., the former 17th District congressman serving an eight-year prison sentence.
Detore, 43, of Clifton, Va., is alleged to be a minor player in the Cafaro-Traficant corruption scenario. Cafaro, a vice president with the Cafaro Co. of Youngstown, has admitted that he used Detore and Albert Lange Jr., both of whom worked for his USAerospace Group in Manassas, Va., in the late 1990s, to satisfy Traficant's demands.
Lange, 47, testified with immunity from prosecution, as he did at Traficant's racketeering trial 15 months ago. In a measured, almost casual delivery, Lange tied Detore to the illegal gifts and didn't waiver under cross-examination by the defense.
Cafaro, 50, of Liberty, will testify this week as part of a plea agreement that netted him 15 months' probation. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the federal bribery statute.
Cafaro took a new hit Wednesday when Lange testified that he and Detore each illegally wrote checks for $4,000 to a Maryland gubernatorial candidate's campaign in 1998 and were reimbursed by the wealthy shopping mall executive.
It wasn't Cafaro's first foray into secret money. He has admitted that in July 1999, he lied under oath at the racketeering trial of then-Mahoning County Sheriff Phil Chance about campaign money he gave Chance.
What defense said
Detore's lawyers -- two from Dallas, one from Cleveland -- contend Detore knew nothing of the illegal gratuities Cafaro provided Traficant and suggest that Cafaro will lie on the witness stand. The defense said Lange would parrot anything Cafaro wanted.
Cafaro admits the gifts to Traficant included $13,000, boat repairs worth $26,000, a $2,900 aluminum welder, $2,700 generator, dinners, cars and more.
In return, Traficant, 62, of Poland, championed USAG's laser-light technology with the Federal Aviation Administration while serving on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation. USAG went bankrupt and folded in 2000.
The government continued its case today with more of the paper trail. Federal prosecutors have an exhibit book roughly 5 inches thick of documents that FBI Special Agent Mike Pikunas placed, one by one, on a projection screen.
The documents included faxes, letters, expense reports and canceled checks. The standard refrain to a witness was: "Turning you attention to Exhibit 114, 120, 139 ..."
Some of the jury members, apparently bored by the tedious nature of the document display, doze. Others shift in their seats and gaze aimlessly at the gallery where Detore's wife, Janet, sits taking notes.
To give testimony
Among several Cafaro Co. employees to testify today was Dominic Rosselli Jr. of Poland, chief financial officer. The mall development company is ranked 11th in real estate holdings in the United States. Rosselli also testified at Traficant's trial last year.
At that time, he said the Cafaro Co. invested $26 million in J.J. Cafaro's Avanti sports car plant, which operated in Youngstown from 1986 to 1991.
The entire investment was lost, and J.J. Cafaro -- who gave Traficant an Avanti -- covered the loss by selling his interest in real estate holdings.
Cafaro's next investment, USAG, lost about $10 million, Rosselli testified.
J.J. Cafaro's brother, Anthony M. Cafaro, Cafaro Co. president, had set a $5 million cap for USAG. Anthony Cafaro didn't want to let things get out of hand, like they did with Avanti, Rosselli testified.
In June 1998, shortly before the $5 million cap was reached, Traficant sent a memo to J.J. Cafaro and issued a press release that promoted USAG technology.
The congressman told Cafaro that the stage was set for legislation the following year that would require the technology, Rosselli said.
When more money was needed for USAG, J.J. Cafaro borrowed $2.5 million from family trusts, obtained a $900,000 bank loan, $800,000 more from the family business and then used his personal accounts, Rosselli said.
The $800,000 was obtained when J.J. Cafaro's daughter, Capri Cafaro, president of USAG, implored her uncle, Anthony Cafaro, to give USAG one last chance in early 2000.
About $3,000 payment
In September 1998, Rosselli said he questioned a $3,000 payment to Lange, wondering if it should be shown as income or a business expense. J.J. Cafaro had only instructed that it be paid but provided no receipts, Rosselli said.
The $3,000 was eventually paid as a business expense. Another $30,000 to Lange in 1999 was listed as a bonus, Rosselli said.
Lange testified this week that the $3,000 was reimbursement for repairs done on Traficant's boat. Lange said he also posed as the buyer of Traficant's dilapidated boat, which Cafaro intended to take off the congressman's hands as another gift.
Traficant owed $26,948 on the 37-foot wooden boat built in the 1970s.
Paul P. Marcone of Virginia, who served as Traficant's chief of staff and press secretary in Washington, D.C., until November 2000, testified Wednesday.
He described Traficant as a hands-off manager who insisted that J.J. Cafaro be kept informed of progress with the FAA.
Marcone acknowledged that it was difficult to testify against Detore, as they had developed a personal relationship. He said Detore was his main contact at USAG and that FAA officials wanted to deal only with Detore, whom they considered a solid professional.
Marcone said he was proud of the hard work the congressional staff did on behalf of USAG's technology.
Under cross-examination, Marcone said there was nothing unusual about Cafaro or Detore's asking for legislative help and called such requests fairly routine. He said Detore focused more on the life-saving aspects of the technology while Cafaro concentrated on the profit potential.
& lt;a href=mailto:meade@vindy.com & gt;meade@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;