BAR ASSOCIATION Complaint targets Colucci

Colucci is accused of doing secret legal work for James A. Traficant.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Mahoning County Bar Association has filed a multicount complaint against Atty. Mark S. Colucci, and is asking that Colucci's law license be suspended.
The 91-page complaint accuses Colucci of, among other charges, engaging in practices that prejudice the administration of justice, neglecting legal matters entrusted to him, charging or collecting excessive fees, failing to inform a client that he does not have professional liability insurance, and failing to pay clients money they had coming from lawsuits.
It has asked the Ohio Supreme Court to suspend Colucci's law license until a full hearing on the complaint is held. Colucci has 10 days to respond to the suspension request. He could not be reached to comment.
'Shadow counsel'
In its complaint, the bar association accuses Colucci of acting as "shadow counsel" for former congressman James A. Traficant Jr., while Traficant was on trial for criminal charges.
In April 2002, a federal jury found Traficant guilty of charges including racketeering, bribery, tax evasion and obstruction of justice. He was sentenced to eight years in prison.
The bar association's complaint says that while Traficant claimed to be representing himself during the trial, Colucci actually helped him by preparing and reviewing several motions and other legal documents for him.
Memo to prosecutors
That came after Colucci had sent an unsolicited memo to federal prosecutors offering his tips on how they could gain a conviction against the former congressman.
The complaint says Colucci missed a hearing in federal court, Youngstown, on an unrelated case so he could stay in Cleveland to talk with reporters about Traficant's sentencing, even though he was not representing Traficant at the time.
Colucci is accused of settling one case without first consulting with his client, Michael Antonoff, who operates a private investigation company.
He's also accused of charging other clients for the expense of hiring Antonoff as a private investigator to work on their cases, and then not hiring Antonoff.
One complainant says that after he'd paid Colucci $150,000 in fees, Colucci urged him to contribute toward the election campaign of Ohio Supreme Court Justice Evelyn Stratton, just in case the complainant had to appear before Stratton. The man contributed $2,500 to Justice Stratton's re-election campaign, and later cut ties with Colucci.
Other complaints
There are several other complaints in which Colucci is accused of accepting fees but not delivering work for his clients.
"The Mahoning County Bar Association, through its grievance committee, is responsible for investigating and taking appropriate legal action relating to allegations of unethical conduct by an attorney," said Atty. Richard White, bar association president.
"The bar association takes this responsibility very seriously and actively pursues all such allegations."
White would not comment further because the matter is still pending.
bjackson@vindy.com