Chipping away at Detore's story

After closing arguments this morning, the jury is to begin deliberating.
& lt;a href=mailto:meade@vindy.com & gt;By PATRICIA MEADE & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
CLEVELAND -- If the jury believes them, rebuttal witnesses dealt a blow to Richard E. Detore's credibility, labeling as pure fiction his explanation for money laundering a J.J. Cafaro campaign contribution.
Closing arguments were set for today in U.S. District Court for the trial that began June 16. The jury would begin deliberations this afternoon.
Detore, 43, of Clifton, Va., is accused of conspiring with Cafaro and Albert Lange Jr. to violate the federal bribery statute by rewarding official acts of now-expelled and imprisoned U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. with illegal gifts. In the late 1990s, Detore, a pilot, and Lange were executives with Cafaro's now-defunct USAerospace Group in Manassas, Va.
The government's case includes a $4,000 check Detore wrote in September 1998 to Maryland Republican gubernatorial candidate Ellen Sauerbrey. Cafaro, 50, of Liberty, testified that he had already contributed the maximum allowed and, to get more money illegally into the campaign, had Detore and Lange each write $4,000 checks and then reimbursed them.
The $4,000 check Detore wrote is not part of his indictment. It was introduced as evidence to disclose what the government calls "other bad acts."
The defense showed the jury Detore's yellow receipt for the $4,000 contribution on which, in the top right-hand corner, someone had written "From: J.J. Cafaro, The Cafaro Co." and "not from Richard Detore."
The written notion also included the initials J.J.C. When shown the yellow receipt, Cafaro, a prosecution witness, denied writing them.
The defense also produced a handwritten letter Detore said he wrote to the Sauerbrey campaign treasurer, further explaining that the contribution wasn't actually his but Cafaro's.
On Wednesday, the government called Sauerbrey campaign workers William Shenk, Mark Lampe and Richard Hug, all of Maryland, as rebuttal witnesses.
Shenk, a volunteer who processed checks written to the campaign, explained that the yellow receipts were not given the day of the September 1998 fund-raiser but mailed later with a thank-you letter. He had a copy of Detore's receipt, used for campaign record-keeping purposes, and it was blank in the top right-hand corner.
Deny knowledge
Ann C. Rowland, an assistant U.S. attorney, asked Shenk if he'd received information that the $4,000 came from someone other than Detore. Shenk said he hadn't.
Lampe, the campaign treasurer, was shown the handwritten letter Detore said he wrote to Lampe.
"Did you ever receive that letter?" Rowland asked.
"No, I did not," Lampe answered.
Rowland asked if anyone said the money came from Cafaro. Lampe said "No," and if that were the case, he would have returned it because of campaign policy.
After Lampe's testimony, Judge Ann Aldrich gave a jury instruction, telling the eight women and four men that the campaign contribution issue is not in Detore's indictment. "It only goes to his credibility or past act," she said.
Hug, campaign finance chairman, said he attended the September 1998 fund-raiser and knew that Cafaro was a "maxed-out donor," meaning he had given the maximum contribution allowed by law. Hug said no one brought to his attention Detore's check.
Rowland showed Detore's yellow receipt to Hug and asked if he had written "From: J.J. Cafaro, The Cafaro Co." and "not from Richard Detore" in the top right-hand corner.
Hug said it was not his handwriting and he did not authorize the Hug signature shown near the notation.
Rowland asked Hug about Detore's purported letter to Lampe, which misspells Hug as Hugg. Hug said, again, that no one brought it to his attention.
Hug testified that, had the change in donors been brought to his attention, the money would have been returned because it represented an illegal contribution.
Detore, who took the witness stand in his own defense Tuesday and Wednesday, said he didn't knowingly write the check to illegally funnel Cafaro money into the campaign. Detore said he thought he was paying for a photo because he'd been told of a photo opportunity with former President Bush.
Wednesday, Detore finished answering questions about discrepancies in his educational background.
Detore, who didn't finish college, denied being the author of a r & eacute;sum & eacute; given to the government in June 2001 by one of his previous lawyers that states he received a geophysics degree from the University of Maryland in 1983. He also testified that a friend who believed he had a doctorate likely misunderstood an explanation of his pilot's license certifications.
R & eacute;sum & eacute;s in question
Thomas W. Mills Jr. of Dallas, Detore's lead attorney, produced a r & eacute;sum & eacute; Wednesday for the jury that shows Detore attended the University of Maryland for a "bachelor of sciences program."
Detore said he authored that r & eacute;sum & eacute; and has never represented that he had a college degree.
Rowland pointed out that, less than a month ago, on May 30, when deposed by Cafaro lawyers in a civil lawsuit, Detore told them he didn't have a current r & eacute;sum & eacute;. Detore filed the lawsuit after being fired from USAG in March 2000.
Rowland read a passage from a 1998 Congressional hearing where Traficant had invited Detore to speak about aviation issues. Traficant introduced Detore as "a graduate of the University of Delaware with a degree in physics."
Rowland asked Detore if he recalled Traficant's mentioning the degree.
"He may have," Detore answered.
"How on earth did he reach such a conclusion?" Rowland asked.
Mills objected, saying it called for speculation. Judge Aldrich sustained the objection.
If convicted, Detore likely faces 24 to 36 months in prison under the federal sentencing guidelines.
Cafaro has testified that he gave Traficant $13,000 cash and used Detore and Lange as middlemen to provide the congressman with roughly $27,000 in boat repairs, a welder, generator, dinners, cars and more. In return, Traficant pushed hard to get Federal Aviation Administration certification for USAG's laser lights aircraft landing technology, which never happened.
Lange testified with immunity. Cafaro pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the federal bribery statute and received 15 months' probation last November.
Traficant, 62, of Poland, will mark his first year in prison Monday.