Monday, June 23, 2003
The prosecution rested its case this morning.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
CLEVELAND -- A lawyer accused J.J. Cafaro of using Richard E. Detore "as a scapegoat" in a conspiracy to reward a corrupt congressman with gifts.
Thomas W. Mills Jr., Detore's attorney, hammered away at Cafaro for 90 minutes this morning in U.S. District Court, trying to shake his testimony. Cafaro's cross-examination began today in the bribery trial of Detore, a 43-year-old Virginia engineer and pilot.
Cafaro denied the scapegoat allegation.
"I'm the one who pleaded guilty," he said. "I've taken responsibility for what I did."
Cafaro, a self-described "federal felon," questioned how Detore ends up being the scapegoat.
Cafaro and his former executives at USAerospace Group in Virginia -- Detore and Albert Lange Jr. -- conspired in the late 1990s to give now-expelled and imprisoned U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. illegal gratuities in return for official acts, the government said.
The trial has entered its second week in Judge Ann Aldrich's court. After Cafaro, the prosecution rested its case. Detore is expected to testify as the defense's last witness.
Admitted guilt
Cafaro, 50, of Liberty, is vice president with the Cafaro Company, a shopping mall empire. He has admitted providing Traficant with cash, nearly $27,000 worth of boat repairs, a welder, generator, cars and more.
The scheme, devised by Detore, included a sham purchase of Traficant's rotting wooden boat, with Lange pretending to be the buyer when the money actually came from Cafaro, the government said. Lange testified last week with immunity from prosecution.
Under questioning Friday, Cafaro explained to the jury that, when initially 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 in early 2000. 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.
Mills said today that Cafaro had a history of paying politicians and referred to Chance.
Cafaro said there was no quid pro quo. He said Chance had been a fraternity brother.
Donated in others' names
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.
During his cross-examination today, Mills referred to the Maryland gubernatorial candidate and suggested Cafaro frequently contributed to campaigns in someone else's names. Cafaro acknowledged he had done it in the past.
"Frequently?" Mills asked.
"Define frequently," Cafaro said.
"More than five times," Mills asked.
"Maybe," Cafaro answered.
Traficant, convicted of racketeering, bribery and tax evasion April 11, 2002, will mark his first year in prison July 30. The 62-year-old Poland man is due out in July 2009.
meade@vindy.com