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Yavorcik seeks dismissal of indictment for second time
CLEVELAND
For a second time, Martin Yavorcik, one of the three defendants in the Oakhill Renaissance Place criminal conspiracy case, is seeking the dismissal of his indictment.
Mark Lavelle, Yavorcik’s attorney, wants a Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court judge to drop the 27-count indictment against Yavorcik, contending the court doesn’t have jurisdiction over the matter and that the indictment violates state law and the double-jeopardy clause in the United States Constitution’s Fifth Amendment.
In a 15-page filing, Lavelle wrote the Ohio Elections Commission has “exclusive initial jurisdiction of alleged election law violations.” He specifically points to Title 35 of the Ohio Revised Code that “lays out the requirements of candidates and their campaign committees to record and report all campaign-related contributions and expenditures.”
Prosecutors have said Yavorcik’s charges go well beyond Title 35 violations.
Yavorcik, a failed independent candidate for Mahoning County prosecutor in 2008, faces 17 counts of tampering with records, four counts of money laundering, three counts of bribery, two counts of conspiracy, and one count of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity. All are felonies.
The Ohio Elections Commission found Yavorcik committed a violation in regard to his campaign finance reports in June 2011, but didn’t fine him or refer the matter for further prosecution. That came after a complaint was filed with the Mahoning County Board of Elections.
The elections board also filed a complaint with the state commission in March 2014 contending Yavorcik’s campaign finance reports are incomplete.
Prosecutors with the Ohio Attorney General’s Office and the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office are prohibited from filing charges related to campaign finance reports under the double-jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment, Lavelle wrote.
Jennifer J. Scott, Yavorcik’s previous attorney, had sought to have Judge Janet R. Burnside dismiss the case over speedy-trial issues, but the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court judge rejected that motion in August.
Yavorcik, Youngstown Mayor John A. McNally and Mahoning County Auditor Michael Sciortino, the latter two being Democrats, face an 83-count indictment accusing them of being involved in a conspiracy to impede the move of the county Department of Job and Family Services from the Cafaro-Co.-owned Garland Plaza to Oakhill Renaissance Place, the former Forum Health Southside Medical Center.
In his motion to dismiss, Lavelle said there were two factions in 2008 in the Mahoning County Democratic Party arguing over the purchase of Oakhill, and that’s what led Yavorcik to run against incumbent county Prosecutor Paul J. Gains.
Lavelle wrote that one faction included McNally, then-county commissioner; Sciortino; then-Democratic Chairwoman Lisa Antonini, also county treasurer at the time; and former county Treasurer John Reardon. The latter two are cooperating with law enforcement.
“Antonini and the party had a strong relationship with a local shopping mall developer Anthony Cafaro [Sr.] and his family,” Lavelle wrote.
Cafaro is likely Businessman 1 in the indictment. That businessman is an unindicted co-conspirator and considered, along with McNally, to be one of the leaders of a criminal enterprise, according to the indictment.
McNally previously said “any description of a criminal enterprise is a complete stretch” by prosecutors. “I’m very frustrated. Descriptions like that, to me, are comical.”
McNally, Yavorcik and Sciortino have all pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The indictment accuses Yavorcik of accepting money from Businessman 1 and others in exchange for agreeing not to investigate or prosecute members of the enterprise if elected county prosecutor.
Lavelle wrote Yavorcik received campaign loans of $2,500 each from Antonini, Reardon and Sciortino.
Lavelle also wrote that Yavorcik was put on retainer by the Cafaro Co. for “ongoing and potential future legal issues involving the business matters of a Cafaro family member.” Yavorcik received a $15,000 retainer check, which he deposited and then wrote a $15,000 check to his campaign to pay for a poll, Lavelle wrote. A previous indictment says that money came from Flora Cafaro, a Cafaro Co. executive, who is likely Businesswoman 1 in the existing indictment.
Yavorcik failed to report the $15,000 as income on his 2008 tax returns, but subsequently amended the returns and “corrected the error,” Lavelle wrote.