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Cafaro gets probation, $250K fine
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
CLEVELAND
John J. Cafaro avoided a prison sentence, but he didn’t avoid being held accountable for making a false statement about a contribution to his daughter’s ill-fated 2004 congressional campaign.
“These statutes need to be taken seriously,” U.S. District Judge Kathleen O’Malley said of federal-campaign financing laws.
However, she added: “The court concludes that a custody term is neither necessary nor appropriate.”
Instead of prison, the judge imposed three years’ probation, during which Cafaro must perform 150 hours of community service in his home community, and fined the former mall-development executive $250,000.
Cafaro, 58, of Liberty Township, is the recently retired vice president of the Youngstown-based Cafaro Co. and the sole owner of the Brookfield-based Linens & More, a home-decor retailer that is to open its first store next month in Howland.
Cafaro pleaded guilty in March to making a false statement about a contribution he gave to help the congressional campaign of his daughter, state Sen. Capri Cafaro of Liberty, D-32nd, who is now the Ohio Senate minority leader.
John Cafaro caused his daughter’s campaign to falsely report to the Federal Election Commission that he had given only $2,000 to her campaign, when, in fact, he gave an additional $10,000 in the form of a loan to her campaign manager, Robert J. Schuerger of Columbus, for the campaign’s benefit, the U.S. attorney said.
The legal limit for campaign gifts to congressional campaigns by individuals is $2,000.
Accompanied by a promissory note, the loan was intended to help Schuerger pay his law-school tuition debt, Cafaro’s lawyer, Ralph E. Cascarilla of Cleveland, said in a sentencing memorandum.
There’s no evidence Schuerger used, or intended to use, any of the loan money as a campaign contribution, Cascarilla added.
In that memorandum, Cascarilla said federal sentencing guidelines call for Cafaro to get up to six months’ probation and be fined between $500 and $5,000.
In court, Cascarilla said the elder Cafaro was not trying to influence the candidate, but he acknowledged that Cafaro improperly made and failed to disclose the loan.
“He accepts full responsibility for his conduct and the consequences that flow from that,” Cascarilla told the judge.
“I’m humbled and embarrassed that I’m here today,” the elder Cafaro told the judge. “I accept the responsibility for that bad decision.”
Justin Roberts, the assistant U.S. attorney prosecuting the case, said he would leave sentencing to the judge’s discretion, but he said the unreported $10,000 transfer would be illegal whether it was a loan or a gift.
However, Roberts noted that the defense admits the “loan” is still outstanding six years later, with no documented collection efforts.
In weighing the factors she considered in her sentencing decision, the judge noted that Cafaro’s 15 months’ probation for his 2002 conviction for bribing former U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. had expired before he committed the 2004 campaign offense.
She also said the campaign-financing offense was “not deserving of the same type of harsh treatment” as bribery, but she noted that Cafaro’s probation for the 2004 offense will be more than double the length of his probation for the 2002 conviction.
Citing a series of testimonial letters from recipients of Cafaro’s philanthropy, Cascarilla said Cafaro has been “extremely generous in both his personal and business affairs.”
However, the judge told Cafaro the 150 hours of community service to which she sentenced him would ensure that Cafaro contributes his time, in addition to his money, to his community.
As conditions of his probation, Cafaro must not possess firearms and must not violate any laws, the judge said, warning him she wouldn’t hesitate to lock him up if he violates terms of his probation. “Even a driving offense could be a violation of your probation,” she warned.
“While none of us condone the actions of my father, and he’s taken full responsibility for them, he is still part of our family, and we were all here to be able to provide support,” the state senator said after court. The state senator attended the sentencing with her sister, Renee, and her mother, Janet.
“I respect the judicial process, and I think that Judge O’Malley was very clear and concise in her reasoning behind the sentence that she imposed, and I respect that decision,” Capri Cafaro said after the sentencing.
As to where her father might perform his community service, she said: “There are a lot of worthy organizations out there, and it’s not really up to me to choose, but I certainly will think about it.”