Cafaro wants Detore to pay

In June, the defendant was acquitted of bribing a congressman.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Businessman J.J. Cafaro wants $11 million from the man he says he believed was qualified to run USAerospace Group but who, it turned out, didn't graduate from college.
The civil lawsuit, filed against Richard E. Detore in U.S. District Court in Cleveland, alleges that the 43-year-old Clifton, Va., man misrepresented his education to receive roughly $1 million in salary, benefits, bonuses and loans. The fraud also caused Cafaro to lose more than $10 million when USAG went belly up, the lawsuit alleges.
The $10 million was invested to manufacture and market USAG's laser-guidance technology. USAG, based in Manassas, Va., folded in late 2000, after attempts to receive Federal Aviation Administration certification for the landing technology failed.
Cafaro, 50, of Liberty, is a vice president with the Cafaro Co. The family-owned real estate and mall development business is based in Youngstown.
Damages sought
The lawsuit seeks compensatory damages of $11 million, punitive damages to be determined at trial and Cafaro's costs, expenses and attorney fees.
Cafaro referred questions to his Cleveland lawyer, Geoffrey S. Mearns, who declined to comment. Detore did not respond to messages left at his Virginia home.
The lawsuit says that Cafaro hired Detore in August 1997, believing he had a 1983 science degree from the University of Delaware, which qualified him to run "the operations of an extraordinarily complicated and highly technical business." As proof of his qualifications, Detore supplied what turned out to be a "bogus" college transcript from the University of Delaware, court papers show.
Letters of recommendation
Detore also solicited letters of recommendation, one of which says he is "backed by a solid education in physics and mathematics," and another declares his "education and outstanding academic achievements" qualify him for the job, the lawsuit states.
In March 2000, after nearly three years with USAG, Detore didn't secure FAA certification or military contracts and was fired for his incompetence and mismanagement, the lawsuit states. Detore's ineptness, the lawsuit says, was "derived in substantial part from his lack of academic qualifications."
Doomed to fail
Had USAG been managed by a qualified professional, one who possessed the necessary academic training, it would not have failed, the lawsuit states.
Detore still has a $1.8 million civil lawsuit pending against the Cafaro Co. over his firing. Cafaro learned in May 2003, during depositions in the case, that Detore lacked a college degree.
Cafaro's business ventures, such as an Avanti Motors sports car plant and USAG, lost $26 million and $10 million, respectively.
In May 2001, Cafaro's association with now-expelled and imprisoned U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. resulted in a guilty plea to conspiracy to violate the federal bribery statute. Cafaro, who provided roughly $40,000 in cash and gifts to Traficant, received 15 months' probation for the crime.
The chink in Detore's educational background became public in June, when he testified in his own defense in federal court. Detore was accused of conspiring with Cafaro and Albert Lange Jr., another USAG executive, to reward Traficant with illegal gifts in return for the congressman's efforts to secure FAA certification for USAG's technology.
Detore was acquitted of the charge.
Discrepancies discussed
At trial, Thomas W. Mills Jr. of Dallas, Detore's lead attorney, dealt with discrepancies in his client's educational background, which the prosecutors had brought up to damage Detore's credibility as a witness.
Detore acknowledged that he attended college for three years and did not earn a degree.
At trial, Ann C. Rowland, an assistant U.S. attorney, showed Detore a r & eacute;sum & eacute; that one of his previous lawyers had given to the government in June 2001, during its investigation of Traficant. She also handed Detore a declaration he made that yet another previous lawyer had filed with a motion in May 2002.
Both documents state that Detore earned a bachelor of science degree in geophysics in 1983.
Detore testified that the r & eacute;sum & eacute; was not his and he didn't know where it came from.
The declaration, which Rowland said included: "I earned a degree in 1983 in geophysics," had errors in it, such as the degree statement, and the errors were corrected shortly after it was submitted, Detore said from the witness stand.
College transcript
Rowland then showed a transcript that purported to show a bachelor of science double major dated 1983, according to Vindicator files.
Detore said the transcript had been given to him by his father, who received it from people at the university. Detore told the jury that the document, which he left behind in his USAG office when he got fired, was not complete; the missing bottom portion says it's not a full transcript.
meade@vindy.com