ROBERT BUCCI CASE Tax-fraud suspect captured in Panama

The fugitive will be facing additional charges, including bond jumping.
& lt;a href=mailto:meade@vindy.com & gt;By PATRICIA MEADE & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- After living 4 1/2 years as a fugitive in Cuba, Robert T. Bucci will soon be back in Ohio, although not by choice.
Bucci, whose brother Anthony's efforts led to the downfall of former U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr., was captured during a business trip to Panama.
U.S. marshals and Drug Enforcement Administration agents worked with Panamanian officials to locate and arrest Bucci on Sunday night at the airport in Panama City, Panama, said U.S. Marshal Peter J. Elliott from his Cleveland office. Bucci was then put on a plane to Miami.
"He thought he'd get away with it by hiding out in Cuba, which has no extradition," Elliott said.
Bucci, who turns 57 on Saturday, will be brought to U.S. District Court in Cleveland to face his original charges plus bond jumping, Elliott said. Bucci appeared Monday before a federal magistrate in Miami for a detention hearing.
Bucci, who lived in Canfield, fled the country in December 1998, rather than face criminal prosecution on charges of conspiracy to defraud the IRS, false tax returns and tax evasion. He and his brother, Anthony R., once owned Asphalt Specialist Inc., then Prime Contractors, both in Girard.
The government discovered that the Buccis had transferred millions of dollars to offshore accounts in the Cayman Islands. The money was from front companies the brothers had created to conceal money not claimed as income.
Brother's testimony
In February 2002, during Traficant's racketeering trial, Anthony Bucci was a prosecution witness. Bucci testified that he tried in vain in the late 1980s to collect nearly $13,000 from Traficant for work done at the congressman's horse farm, and even threatened a lawsuit.
Anthony Bucci said he and his brother Robert decided they had a choice: "Basically, we were going to sue a congressman or, for $13,000, own him."
With the debt forgiven, Traficant interceded on the Buccis' behalf with federal and state agencies whenever needed until 1996.
Anthony Bucci, who moved to Florida from Liberty the summer of 1999, admitted that, over the years, he cheated the IRS, paid bribes to ex-Mahoning County Engineer William P. Fergus and ran scams on the Ohio Department of Transportation and U.S. Department of Labor.
In May 1999, Anthony Bucci pleaded guilty to mail fraud and conspiracy to defraud the IRS. Looking for a way to reduce his pending 18- to 24-month sentence, he went with his lawyer to the FBI in August 1999 with what he knew about Traficant.
The government then launched its investigation of Traficant, which ended with the 62-year-old Poland man getting an eight-year prison sentence last July. A jury found Traficant guilty of racketeering, bribery and tax evasion.
Sentenced
Last June, Anthony Bucci was sentenced to two years' probation, with the first six weeks confined to his Florida home.
Robert Bucci, had he returned to the country and pleaded guilty to crimes associated with the paving business, could have testified against Traficant. In return, the government would have made a recommendation for a reduced sentence, as it did with Anthony Bucci.
During the Traficant trial, Anthony Bucci said he'd been in touch with his brother in Cuba.
Elliott praised the tenacity of Kenneth Pirone, an investigator with the U.S. Marshals Service. "He never let up and due to his work, Bucci is in custody today," Elliott said.
Pirone said he was able to develop information that Bucci was traveling in and out of Panama. Pirone described Bucci as a very wealthy man.
& lt;a href=mailto:meade@vindy.com & gt;meade@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;