ILLEGAL POSSESSION Trial date set for man with weapon charge

William D. Cindea said Atty. Maridee Costanzo wanted him to kill her estranged husband.
AKRON -- A July 5 trial date has been scheduled for a man indicted on a federal charge of illegal possession of a weapon.
William D. Cindea of Warren appeared in court Monday and pleaded innocent to the charge. He was released on $20,000 bond. Atty. David Jack of Akron was appointed to represent Cindea.
If convicted, Cindea faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, said Bill Edwards, a spokesman with the U.S. attorney's office.
Cindea was arrested on the weapon charge about a month after he told federal officials that Atty. Maridee Costanzo wanted him to arrange the murder of her estranged husband.
The indictment states that Cindea, who was convicted Jan. 7, 1993, in Lawrence County, Pa., of the manufacture, delivery or possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, did knowingly possess a firearm. Since Cindea was convicted of a prior felony, he is prohibited from having a firearm.
The indictment noted that Cindea had a .22-Magnum revolver, a .38-caliber revolver and ammunition.
Arrest
The weapons and ammunition were found on Cindea when he was arrested along with Costanzo, a few blocks from the home of Roger Bauer, her estranged husband.
Costanzo had one of the weapons tucked in her pants. Costanzo is already facing a felony charge of carrying a concealed weapon in that case, which was bound over to a Trumbull County grand jury last month.
Cindea is facing a misdemeanor weapon charge in Warren Municipal Court. His next hearing in that court is scheduled for June.
In a 14-page affidavit prosecutors filed in U.S. District Court in support of Costanzo's murder-for-hire charge, it states that a source told FBI agents that Costanzo had been trying to hire Cindea or someone to kill her husband.
The affidavit states the source was driving the car the night Costanzo was arrested. Police reports indicate Cindea was the driver.
The affidavit further states that the source tape-recorded numerous conversations with Costanzo in which she repeatedly says she wants to have Bauer killed.
Costanzo is being held in jail on a charge she tried to hire a hit man to kill Bauer. It is not known when her next hearing is scheduled.