DETORE BRIBERY TRIAL Testimony diverges to illegal campaign-giving

The witness also testified about a scheme involving then-Rep. Traficant's boat.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
CLEVELAND -- Multimillionaire J.J. Cafaro used two of his aerospace employees to funnel illegal campaign contributions to a candidate running for governor of Maryland, a witness testified today.
Albert Lange Jr. said in U.S. District Court at the trial of Richard E. Detore that Cafaro asked them if they wanted to attend a September 1998 breakfast fund-raiser where former President Bush would be speaking.
Lange said he and Detore each wrote a check for $4,000 for a gubernatorial candidate in Maryland.
When Cafaro arrived at the fund-raiser, he had forgotten to bring the checks to reimburse Lange and Detore but later had them mailed, Lange said.
Asked by Ann C. Rowland, an assistant U.S. attorney, why Cafaro couldn't give the money directly, Lange said he had no clue and he considered that Cafaro was doing something nice by inviting him to have his picture taken with the former president.
Under cross-examination by one of Detore's lawyers, Elizabeth Kelley of Cleveland, Lange admitted what he did was illegal.
Judge Ann Aldrich explained to the jury before the testimony about the campaign contributions that they would hear evidence of "other bad acts" but cautioned them that Detore is not charged with those acts.
What Lange said
Detore, a Virginia engineer and pilot, and Lange worked for Cafaro's now-defunct USAerospace group in Manassas, Va.
Lange, 47, an engineer from Manassas, testified with immunity, as he did 15 months ago at the racketeering trial of then-U.S. Rep. James Traficant.
When Traficant dined with Cafaro's aerospace officers, he didn't hesitate to ask for a Corvette to take on a trip and a welder and generator to build horse trailers, Lange testified.
He told the jury that USAG paid $2,900 for an aluminum welder Traficant said he needed to build a horse trailer in April 1999. The congressman bred saddlehorses at his farm in Greenford.
A month later, USAG paid $2,700 for a generator that Traficant wanted, Lange testified.
At another dinner at Taverna, a Greek restaurant in Washington, Traficant mentioned that he needed a sporty car to take on a trip down south while his Avanti was being repaired.
Lange acknowledged that USAG wasn't in the business of repairing or renting cars but did what Traficant wanted while he was promoting USAG's laser-lights technology with the Federal Aviation Administration.
The Corvette was originally rented on Detore's credit card in November 1999, but when the car was returned Dec. 17, 1999, Traficant transferred the $5,000 rental payment to his credit card.
The government has said that Traficant paid for the Corvette only because his office and phone records had been subpoenaed two weeks earlier, Dec. 8, 1999.
$5,000 in bag
Lange said Detore received $5,000 from Cafaro and placed it in a brown bag that Traficant picked up after another dinner at Taverna.
He said the congressman "pulled out a wad of cash and said, 'I can't do it this way,'" and Detore replied, "Not a problem. I'll take care of it.''
Detore served as USAG's chief operating officer until he was fired by Cafaro, of Liberty, in early 2000.
After the firing, Lange was asked at a dinner with Traficant about the "$5,000 pieces of paper," which Lange said he knew was code for the $5,000 Corvette rental amount. Lange said that he told the congressman, "Rick has the money; you'll have to deal with him."
Lange began his testimony today by completing his description of the scheme to repair and buy Traficant's leaky, dilapidated, 37-foot, 1970s wooden boat. Photos of the boat appeared on a large screen while Lange explained to the jury what he said was the "cover story" for $26,000 worth of repairs.
As FBI Special Agent Mike Pikunas displayed the photos in U.S. District Court, Lange 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, Cafaro, was paying the repair bills and buying the boat in return for Traficant's promotion of USAG's laser-lights technology.
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.
What's happening
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 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 and USAG would pay. Lange couldn't recall a time when Traficant paid.
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.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.