Lawyer questions reason for plea deal

One of the vendors awaits trial. Four others have been convicted.
By ED RUNYAN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Last Monday, Terry Maiorana, Trumbull County purchasing probe defendant, pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of bribery and theft, punishable with between one and 12 months in jail.
If he had been convicted on the original four felonies he had been charged with, the sentence could have been as much as three to 12 years. Judge Peter Kontos of common pleas court said when a plea arrangement is reached that involves a significant reduction of this type, he requires the prosecution to explain the reason for the reduction.
Chris Becker, assistant county prosecutor, explained that Maiorana's case would have been difficult to prove because two of the state's primary witnesses were now unreliable because of alcohol and memory problems and because the defense might poke holes in the state's assertion that an $800 check Maiorana gave to Tony Delmont, the former county maintenance director, was a bribe. Delmont was the key figure in the investigation.
But Atty. Robert Shaker, who represents Delmont, said there is another possible explanation. Shaker, of Niles, said among the witnesses expected to testify during the trial were Sheriff Thomas Altiere; Commissioner James Tsagaris; and former commissioners Michael O'Brien, now Warren's mayor; and Joseph Angelo.
Raising questions
Shaker said the public could rightly wonder whether prosecutors were reluctant to subject the current and former county officials to questioning on the witness stand about grand jury testimony the four public officials gave in summer 2004 but which has remained secret.
Shaker said cross-examination by Maiorana's defense attorney J. Gerald Ingram would have provided ample opportunity to ask questions about the officials' roles in the scandal, especially if it conflicted with their grand jury testimony.
Becker, however, said such testimony would only have come up if it were relevant to the case, and whether such testimony would have been uncomfortable for those officials is of no concern to him.
"If someone's looking for a conspiracy theory, they're out of their minds," Becker said.
Delmont has been saying for about two years -- since he provided an affidavit to the court -- that even though he accepted bribe money to allow vendors to sell janitorial supplies at exorbitant prices, he did so with the full cooperation of commissioners and/or Altiere, who has been sheriff since 1993.
Victor V. Vigluicci, the Portage County prosecutor assigned to handle that portion of the case on behalf of County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins, has been silent on that part of the case for many months. He could not be reached to comment.
Role of commissioners
"If you're approving these vendors' invoices ... then there is a question of legality that has never been addressed," Shaker said of the officials. Shaker said the commissioners wrote the checks to pay the bills for years and years while the county was paying for overpriced products, not Delmont.
During the years 1999 through 2002 -- the years of the purchasing investigations -- the county paid about $570,000 annually for janitorial supplies. Since the scam was stopped, the county pays about $83,000 a year for them, officials have said.
Delmont was maintenance supervisor from 1994 to 2002. O'Brien was commissioner from 1994 to 2004. Angelo was commissioner from 1992 through 2004. Tsagaris has held the office since 1999.
"You're paying 10 times the cost of toilet paper. Aren't you supposed to be scrutinizing these invoices?" Shaker said. He added that the invoices were not doctored, so for commissioners to pay for the overpriced items for so long without questioning them raises questions about the officials, some of whom received campaign contributions from some of the vendors.
"If anything, it's the worst case of malfeasance I've ever seen. Nobody ever went to Mr. Delmont and said 'stop ordering these,'" Shaker said.
Commissioners and Altiere have all denied knowledge of the scheme, though Tsagaris did indicate in October 2003 that he was aware of excessive spending in Delmont's department and was afraid to do anything about it.
Wonders about FBI involvement
Shaker said he has questions as to why the FBI has not taken a role in the public corruption aspects of the case, saying the case has similarities to high-profile ones in the news against individuals such as Ohio coin-scandal principal Tom Noe and U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay.
"It's a pattern across the country -- the public's tax dollars are being wasted," he said. "To me the public deserves a better explanation than the head janitor ripped off the county," he said.
Craig Bonar, county Republican Party chairman, meanwhile, says he has been in contact with various investigative agencies and believes the FBI has continued to investigate county officials over questions about public corruption. He said he has been told the FBI interviewed one individual as recently as a month ago in the case.
"I don't believe the purchasing probe is over," said Bonar, who also is a member of the county elections board.
John Kane, resident agent in charge of the FBI's Boardman office, did not return a phone call seeking comment.
Delmont, 50, of Warren, was sentenced Jan. 27 to three years in prison on seven counts of bribery, theft in office and money laundering between 1999 and 2002. The court is now determining whether Delmont is healthy enough to report to prison because he has cancer.
Prosecutor's response
Becker said that the case against Maiorana and his wife, Linda, was ready to go to trial Monday and that the reason for the plea bargain had nothing to do with public officials' having to testify.
He added that the prosecutor's office would have no reason to protect the commissioners and sheriff who were in office from 1999 to 2002, adding that two of them -- O'Brien and Angelo -- are no longer commissioners.
Becker has said the important thing about the investigation is that it has returned a large percentage of the money stolen from 1999 through 2002 to the county through restitution and fines. The Maioranas' fine and restitution totaled around $15,000.
"Better to take a plea for $15,000," Becker said. "It all goes back to the county, where the money came from," he said.
Becker has said he expects a joint statement from Watkins and Vigluicci at some point to address the investigation into the public-official part of the case.
None of the cases against Delmont or the five vendors has gone to trial. A trial for the last of the vendors, Dennis Pirko, 57, of North Jackson, is set for July 24. Pirko is a heating repairman, charged with bribery, money laundering, theft and failing to file state tax returns. He is accused of giving $1,600 in bribes to Delmont.
One vendor sentenced is Barry Jacobson, 37, who will serve one month in Geauga County Jail starting June 19. Two of the five vendors, Barry Bonchek, 63, and Daniel Donofrio III, 41, await sentencing for their role, Bonchek on Tuesday and Donofrio on June 6.