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Judge grounds Cafaro in region
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
milliken@vindy.com
AKRON
Photo
John J. Cafaro puffs on a cigar as he leaves the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center in Youngstown on Monday afternoon. Cafaro was released on $50,000 unsecured bond Monday pending his .June 8 sentencing.
John J. Cafaro is no longer jailed, but a federal judge has effectively grounded the former shopping mall executive by keeping him in northern Ohio pending sentencing.
U.S. District Judge John R. Adams released Cafaro, who appeared shackled and attired in an orange jail uniform at a Monday detention hearing, on a $50,000 unsecured bond pending his 10 a.m. June 8 sentencing.
U.S. marshals then returned Cafaro to the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center on Hubbard Road, from which he was released at about 4 p.m.
As conditions of his release, Cafaro must submit to, and pay for, electronic location monitoring; surrender his passport immediately, and he cannot leave northern Ohio without the court’s permission. He is also barred from possessing a firearm or dangerous weapon.
Judge Adams had detained Cafaro at his Wednesday arraignment, saying Cafaro, 58, of Hubbard, refused to provide the financial information necessary for his bond to be properly set.
But his lawyers subsequently submitted his federal income tax returns for recent years and other financial information to the court late last week.
Cafaro, who retired as vice president of the Cafaro Co. on Dec. 31, but remains a consultant to that company, pleaded guilty last week to making a false statement concerning a contribution he made to his daughter, Capri Cafaro’s, unsuccessful 2004 congressional campaign.
The elder Cafaro caused an official of his daughter’s congressional campaign to falsely report 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 a campaign staff member for the campaign’s benefit, the U.S. Attorney said. The legal limit for campaign gifts by individuals was $2,000.
Capri Cafaro of Liberty, D-32nd, is an Ohio state senator and senate minority leader.
“The burden is on you, counsel,” the judge told Cafaro’s Cleveland lawyer, Ralph E. Cascarilla, at the beginning of Monday’s 33-minute hearing.
Because Cafaro had already pleaded guilty to a crime, the judge said it was the defense’s burden to show by clear and convincing evidence that Cafaro was not a flight risk or a danger to society.
To meet that burden, Cascarilla had Cafaro sworn in as a witness and asked him questions; the answers would establish that Cafaro is a stable long-term resident with roots in Northeast Ohio.
A lifelong Mahoning Valley resident, Cafaro said he has lived at his Warner Road residence near other members of his family for 35 years. He said he and his wife, Janet, have been married 38 years and have two daughters, Capri and Ren e.
Cafaro said he has been a member of St. Anthony’s Church since his childhood, attended Youngstown State University and belongs to the Optimist Club.
“My entire social being is in the Mahoning Valley,” he told the judge.
Although he was convicted of bribing former U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. in 2002, Cafaro said he complied fully with the conditions of his probation for that offense, has never been convicted of a violent crime and owns no firearms.
Despite knowing of the FBI’s campaign contribution investigation for “well over a year,” Cafaro said he has made no attempt to flee the court’s jurisdiction and that he intended to comply with all conditions of any bond set for him.
“The bribery of a congressman is certainly a serious offense,” the judge observed.
Cafaro said he is the owner of Linens and More, a new Brookfield-based company that plans to open six retail stores this year, the first of them July 22 in Howland.
“There is a low risk of flight,” and no evidence Cafaro is violent, Cascarilla told the judge.
Justin Roberts, the assistant U.S. attorney prosecuting the case, did not exercise his option to question Cafaro and did not object to the bond the judge set.
The federal judge observed that Cafaro has access to a private plane and spent more than $37,000 on air travel last year, according to financial records his lawyer submitted to the court.
Cafaro said the bulk of that air-travel money likely consists of commercial air fare, much of it for trips to and from Florida, where he said he is renovating a home. Cafaro also said he maintains a Washington, D.C., area residence.
At Cafaro’s arraignment, Cascarilla and the judge agreed that Cafaro likely faces up to six months in prison for his campaign falsification offense. However, the judge warned that failure to appear for sentencing could result in imposition of an additional five consecutive years in prison.