Oakhill case to have first pretrial hearing

By PETER H. MILLIKEN

milliken@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Prosecutors, defense lawyers and defendants in the Oakhill Renaissance Place criminal-conspiracy case gather at 9 a.m. today in Mahoning County Courthouse for the first pretrial hearing before Visiting Judge William H. Wolff Jr.

Five special prosecutors are facing off against 14 defense lawyers representing 10 defendants in a 73-count grand jury indictment issued July 28.

Eight of the defendants are charged with conspiring to prevent or delay the move of the county’s Department of Job and Family Services from Cafaro Co.-owned rented quarters at Garland Plaza to Oakhill, which the county bought in 2006.

Those defendants are Anthony M. Cafaro Sr., retired president of the Cafaro Co.; the Cafaro Co. and two of its affiliates, the Ohio Valley Mall Co. and the Marion Plaza Inc.; county Commissioner John A. McNally IV;county Auditor Michael V. Sciortino; former county Treasurer John B. Reardon; and John Zachariah, the former county Job and Family Services director.

Oakhill is the former Forum Health Southside Medical Center, to which JFS moved in July 2007.

Two other defendants, Flora Cafaro, part-owner of the Cafaro Co. and sister of Anthony Cafaro Sr., and Atty. Martin Yavorcik, are charged with money laundering in connection with an allegedly concealed $15,000 gift she gave to Yavorcik’s unsuccessful 2008 campaign for county prosecutor.

At today’s hearing, which will be in the large fourth-floor courtroom normally used by Judge Maureen A. Sweeney, Judge Wolff, of Kettering, is expected to set deadlines for exchanges of evidence between prosecuting and defense lawyers and for motion filings and responses and dates for other pretrial hearings and the trial itself.

Judge Wolff has orally granted defense motions to excuse Anthony and Flora Cafaro and Atty. Martin Yavorcik from attending today’s hearing.