Tsagaris’ guilty plea prompts questions requiring answers

In the eight years he was a Trumbull County commissioner, James G. Tsagaris had contact with hundreds of businessmen. One of them gave Tsagaris a loan. The commissioner, in turn, interceded on the businessman’s behalf.

That’s against the law.

Tsagaris has pleaded guilty to two federal counts of mail fraud — which does not reflect the seriousness of his crime.

He used his public position for personal gain, becoming one in a long string of Mahoning Valley politicians to do so. The most of famous of them, former Congressman James A. Traficant Jr., is completing an eight-year federal prison sentence.

Tsagaris’ lawyer will ask U.S. District Court Judge Sara Lioi for leniency because of his client’s health issues.

We believe that time behind bars is not only justified, but necessary. If Tsagaris has a medical condition, there are federal prisons that can provide him with the health care he needs.

We would also ask Judge Lioi to require federal prosecutors to publicly identify the businessman who gave the former commissioner the $36,551 “loan.” We put the word in quotations because federal documents reveal that there was no payment schedule and no collateral provided by Tsagaris.

A loan? We trust that the details of how much has been repaid will be made public during the sentencing hearing in August.

Quid pro quo allegation

Given the possibility of a quid pro quo, we also believe that Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins should explore the feasibility of state charges being filed against Tsagaris.

The federal government has based its case on mail fraud, but the details of what occurred suggest that there is much more to this case, which justifies the involvement of a special prosecutor. As county prosecutor, Watkins is the lawyer for the county’s departments and agencies.

Meanwhile, every businessman who had contact with Tsagaris from January 1999 to December 2006 is under a dark cloud. That is why disclosure of the identity of the individual who loaned the money and the details of whatever favors he received must be made public.

The taxpayers of Trumbull County have a right to know how the people’s business was being conducted.

Indeed, during Tsagaris’ tenure there were several issues that surfaced which today give rise to speculation. First and foremost was the so-called purchasing scandal which was uncovered by Vindicators reporters in 2002.

The county’s former maintenance director, Anthony Delmont, who pleaded guilty to theft in office, bribery and money laundering, signed an affidavit that accused some of the county government’s heaviest hitters of wrongdoing.

The affidavit did not identify anyone by name, but rather by position. Delmont claimed that the sheriff and/or commissioners directed him to give thousands of dollars in cash and gifts to various elected officials. Delmont said he gave $50,000 to elected officials, as well as sporting events tickets, electronics equipment and other gifts.

At the time, the board of commissioners was made up of Tsagaris, Michael O’Brien, who is now mayor of Warren, and Joseph J. Angelo, who was voted out of office in 2004.

Tsagaris chose not to seek re-election in 2006.

Also spotlighted in the probe was Sheriff Thomas Altiere.

They all denied any wrongdoing and none was charged.

Airport operations

Then there was the issue of the fixed-based operation at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport, with Tsagaris claiming something “fishy” was going on with regard to the expenditure of public dollars.

His accusation came in the midst of a battle between Winner Aviation and ReadyAir over the sale of aviation fuel and servicing of aircraft at the airport.

Winner Aviation was headed by President Rick Hale, while ReadyAir’s president was Robert Moosally.

The Western Reserve Port Authority, the airport’s governing body, was accused by Moosally of favoring Winner Aviation.

Tsagaris never publicly explained what he meant when he characterized the expenditure of public dollars by the port authority as “fishy.”