Investigation continues into bribe allegation

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Trumbull County Engineer David DeChristofaro

By Ed Runyan

The investigator has been thwarted in his attempt to interview two complainants.

WARREN — An investigation into an allegation that the Democratic candidate for Trumbull County engineer offered a bribe to longtime friend and Niles Mayor Ralph Infante is likely to wrap up late this month or early October.

Atty. Thomas Wilson, a court-appointed investigator, told the county elections board at its Tuesday meeting he has still has several interviews to conduct, including some with board members.

Wilson was appointed to look into the complaint filed by Atty. Subodh Chandra of Cleveland, who says he represents two Hartford Township men who want to know whether David DeChristofaro was guilty of bribery. They allege he offered to hire Infante to work in the county engineer’s office if DeChristofaro is elected to the job in November.

Wilson said he has scheduled interview times with elections board members Christ Michelakis, the county Democratic Party chairman, and Craig Bonar, the county Republican Party chairman, for this week.

He said he also has tried to interview the two men Chandra represents, Richard Ponder, of Bradley Brownlee Road, and Michael Anthony, of state Route 305, but Chandra has not answered a written request from Aug. 29 to talk to them.

Chandra said Ponder and Anthony had no “personal knowledge of the facts,” but were aware of articles printed in an area newspaper indicating that DeChristofaro had offered Infante a job and that such an offer might qualify under Ohio law as bribery.

Michelakis said he wondered why two people with no knowledge of the facts would file such a complaint.

Wilson, whose law office is in Youngstown, said that is a question he, too, would like to ask.

He said he doesn’t know whether it is pertinent or not, but he has learned Ponder rents his home from Randy Smith, the candidate who lost to DeChristofaro in the primary.

Bonar asked whether Wilson would be interviewing DeChristofaro or Infante personally, and Wilson said he would “leave no stone unturned” to uncover the facts he needed to determine whether a crime was committed.

Before Wilson was appointed to the matter, James Saker, an assistant county prosecutor, had prepared questions that were asked of DeChristofaro and Infante on the matter.

The answers are contained in a document prepared by the elections board.

When asked whether DeChristofaro had offered him a job sometime before the primary this year, Infante said, “He asked me to consider going with him, if he were elected.”

In a separate question, Infante answered he told DeChristofaro he would “consider [the offer] later, after the primary, as I have three more years left on my position as mayor.”

When asked whether DeChristofaro asked him to do anything in return, Infante said “No. Dave has been a lifetime friend and we went to school together, since kindergarten. I was his co-campaign chair for the last four years, and everybody knew I was his friend.”

DeChristofaro, when asked whether he offered Infante a position, said, “No.”

Infante said all other questions were irrelevant because of his answer to the first question.

runyan@vindy.com