FBI informant expected to testify Wednesday in Yavorcik case

CLEVELAND

Harry Strabala, a political consultant and FBI informant, is expected to testify today at the trial of Martin Yavorcik, the lone defendant in the Oakhill Renaissance Place criminal-corruption trial to not plead guilty.

Strabala, who secretly taped Mahoning Valley politicians, including Yavorcik, is seen as a key prosecution witness.

After more than seven hours of questioning potential jurors over the first two days of the trial, a jury was seated late Tuesday.

The first witness for the prosecution and the only one called was FBI special agent Wallace Sines, Strabala’s main contact at the bureau. Sines said Strabala worked with the FBI for 12 years, and secretly taped politicians he believed were corrupt.

During his 36-minute direct testimony, Sines answered questions from Matthew E. Meyer, a Cuyahoga County assistant prosecutor, primarily about Strabala.

Strabala, a political consultant, was a longtime FBI informant paid by the bureau to secretly tape politicians believed to have committed crimes. Some of those tapes of Yavorcik and others will be played for the jury.

Yavorcik, a failed 2008 Mahoning County prosecutor candidate facing 11 felonies, will cross-examine Sines when the trial resumes today.

During Strabala’s 12 years working as an FBI informant, the bureau paid him $102,909, Sines testified.

Read more about the testimony and the case in Wednesday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.