Gessner takes issue with opponent's ad

A copy of the TV ad will also be sent to the elections commission.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Brad Gessner, candidate for Mahoning County prosecutor, has filed a complaint with the Ohio Elections Commission claiming he has been falsely and recklessly accused in a political TV ad of case fixing and being involved in a scheme to kill the incumbent.
Gessner is an assistant Summit County prosecutor and was an assistant Mahoning County prosecutor until June 30, 1996. He is incumbent Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul J. Gains' only challenger in Tuesday's Democratic primary election.
Gains' 15-second political TV ad is airing on network and cable stations.
The voice in the ad says that, though Gessner says he was never investigated by the U.S. Attorney's Office, his name "is all over the Antwan Harris case where the ultimate fix was to kill Paul Gains." The camera focuses on Harris' court documents to show Gessner's name.
Gains survived an assassination attempt in his Boardman home Dec. 24, 1996, orchestrated by associates of former mob boss Lenny Strollo. Gains has been prosecutor since January 1997; he defeated James A. Philomena, who later went to prison for case fixing.
Gessner's complaint
Gessner, of Austintown, who was an assistant under Philomena, said Friday that his words are being twisted and what he said was "Craig S. Morford [assistant U.S. attorney] told me that if my name or Ken Bailey's name was on a file, they were wasting their time to see if the case was fixed." Gessner said he never said that investigators didn't look at the cases to which he had been assigned.
Bailey is now an assistant prosecutor in Trumbull County.
The Vindicator asked Gains if he had spoken to Morford about Gessner's comments. "No, I didn't. I didn't have to," the prosecutor said, adding that what Gessner is saying can't be true because Harris' case was investigated and he was used as a government witness.
Harris, who testified for the government against co-defendants, admitted that he paid his mob pals $175,000 to fix a 1995 murder case through Philomena, but they failed to deliver. The 1995 murder and another he admitted committing in 1996, disappeared in a plea bargain he struck with Gains' office in 1998, according to Vindicator files.
Harris has admitted in court to being involved in four murders, according to Vindicator files. His plea agreement was sealed until June 2000, when he received an eight-year sentence on drug convictions only.
Harris stood outside Gains' house seven years ago when a hired gunman tried to kill the prosecutor-elect in his kitchen. Harris was never charged for his part in the crime.
Gains' letter
In a letter to Youngstown's three TV stations, Gains said there is no allegation in the commercial that Gessner was involved in the Harris fix or had any knowledge of it. "The issue is simply that he lied, which has been this campaign's focus."
Gains said Friday that he had not seen the Ohio Elections Commission complaint but said he welcomes it.
Gessner said in his complaint that the TV ad was made to disseminate a false statement, with Gains and his campaign treasurer knowing the ad to be false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.
Gessner said he will supplement his complaint with a copy of the TV ad.
"What's false about it?" Gains said of the TV ad. "I'm not twisting any words."
meade@vindy.com