Lie about $13,000 snagged Cafaro

Cafaro said he confessed several illegal acts after he got a plea deal.
& lt;a href=mailto:meade@vindy.com & gt;By PATRICIA MEADE & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
CLEVELAND -- J.J. Cafaro wouldn't have the label felon if he'd told federal prosecutors the truth about secretly giving now-expelled and imprisoned U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. $13,000.
Cafaro's admission came on the witness stand Friday afternoon in U.S. District Court at the bribery trial of Richard E. Detore, a 43-year-old Virginia engineer and pilot.
Cafaro and his former executives at USAerospace Group in Virginia -- Detore and Albert Lange Jr. -- conspired in the late 1990s to give Traficant illegal gratuities in return for official acts, the government said.
Cafaro, 50, of Liberty, a vice president with the Cafaro Company, said he had an agreement with the government in early 2000 that he would not be prosecuted if he told the truth and cooperated with its investigation of Traficant.
"Were you truthful?" asked Matthew B. Kall, an assistant U.S. attorney.
"No," Cafaro answered.
"You lied," Kall pressed.
"Yes," Cafaro said.
He explained to the jury that, when asked by prosecutors, he denied giving Traficant $13,000 cash in November 1998 and, as a result, lost out on an immunity-from-prosecution deal.
Cafaro eventually told the truth, reached a plea agreement and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the federal bribery statute. He received 15 months' probation.
Cafaro said once he had a plea agreement, he told the government of his other illegal acts, such as lying on the witness stand in July 1999 at the racketeering trial of then-Mahoning County Sheriff Phil Chance. The lie dealt with illegally funneling money into Chance's campaign.
Cafaro said he also admitted giving money in other people's names to various campaigns for which he'd already donated the maximum allowed. He said he used Detore and Lange that way for a 1998 gubernatorial campaign in Maryland.
Focal point
Cafaro's lies are expected to be the focal point when the trial resumes Monday morning and he is subjected to cross-examination by Detore's lead attorney, Thomas W. Mills Jr. of Dallas.
Lawyers for Detore contend their client knew nothing about whatever scheme Cafaro and Lange had going with Traficant, who is now serving an eight-year prison sentence.
Friday, Cafaro testified that Traficant "never parted with money" but instead "requested things."
In 1998 and 1999, while Traficant was promoting USAG's laser-lights technology with the Federal Aviation Administration, the requests included repairs to his 37-foot wooden boat, purchase of the boat, a welder, generator and Jeep, Corvette rental and more.
Detore, as USAG's chief operating officer, developed a very close friendship with Traficant and they ate dinner out frequently, said Cafaro, who paid the bills. It was Detore's idea, Cafaro said, to arrange for the repairs to Traficant's boat and use the cover story that Lange was buying it.
Lange testified this week with immunity from prosecution. His testimony linked Detore to the conspiracy to "keep Traficant happy" while he was promoting USAG technology on Capitol Hill.
Detore suggested buying the boat to help Traficant out, Cafaro said. Cafaro termed the arrangement "one hand washing the other."
From a business perspective, it made no sense to buy a wooden boat to test the maritime applications of USAG's technology; a boat could have been rented, Cafaro said. "There's only one reason a wood boat was bought: It was former congressman Traficant's boat," he told the jury.
Cafaro said the boat purchase soon "took on a life of its own" in 1998. He said he obtained a cashier's check for $26,948.18 payable to Nations Bank, showing Traficant as the remitter, to pay off the boat mortgage.
Cafaro said Detore delivered it to Traficant, who rejected doing the purchase that way.
Cafaro said he then funded repairs to the boat, which kept Traficant "from bugging me" for the $26,948 payoff. That changed in November 1998, when Traficant wanted half the purchase price in cash, saying he needed it for Christmas, Cafaro said.
Cafaro said he put the $13,000 in the armrest of his car on Nov. 14, 1998, picked Traficant up at Youngstown State University and drove around the campus. Traficant took the money, Cafaro said.
Detore's firing
Detore was fired by Cafaro in March 2000, in part because Detore made disparaging remarks about Cafaro's 25-year-old daughter. Detore has a civil lawsuit pending over the firing.
Cafaro said Traficant became irate at Detore's firing and said the company would fail without him. To placate Traficant, Cafaro initially agreed to take Detore back as a consultant but nixed the idea after consulting Cleveland attorney Geoffrey S. Mearns, who urged Cafaro to cooperate with the federal investigation of the congressman.
Cafaro said USAG never secured the FAA certification it needed to market the technology to commercial airports. The company went bankrupt in 2002, losing roughly $13 million.
Cafaro said the company couldn't continue because of his illegal activities with Traficant. He said Traficant still has the boat, never paid for nearly $27,000 in repairs and didn't give back the $13,000.
After Cafaro concludes his testimony Monday, the government is expected to call an FBI agent to the stand, then rest its case. Detore will take the witness stand in his own defense next week.
If convicted, Detore likely faces 24 to 36 months in prison under the federal sentencing guidelines.
U.S. District Judge Ann Aldrich, as she dismissed the jury of eight women and four men Friday, told them to stay safe over the weekend because they're needed again next week. She grinned as she cautioned them to not get run over by a bus.
& lt;a href=mailto:meade@vindy.com & gt;meade@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;