McNally on stand today in Yavorcik Oakhill corruption case

CLEVELAND

Prosecutors in the Martin Yavorcik conspiracy/corruption trial aren’t focusing much of their case on the defendant – at least not yet.

Instead, they spent most of Wednesday and today building a case to establish that a group of people – not including Yavorcik – conspired to stop or impede Mahoning County’s 2006 purchase of Oakhill Renaissance Place, a former hospital, and relocate its Department of Job and Family Services there from Garland Plaza, owned by a subsidiary of the Cafaro Co.

Prosecutors need to build the conspiracy case – and that parts happened in Cuyahoga County, where Yavorcik is being prosecuted, to establish it’s the proper venue – in order to then move to what they contend was the second phase of the conspiracy. That other part, they allege, is those involved in the first phase conspired to have Yavorcik run in 2008 as an independent candidate for Mahoning County prosecutor and win in order to make the investigation go away.

Yavorcik, who said he ran because he wanted the job, lost by 38 percentage points to incumbent Prosecutor Paul J. Gains, a Democrat. Yavorcik faces 11 felony charges, including engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, conspiracy, bribery, money laundering and tampering with records.

Youngstown Mayor John A. McNally, who was a county commissioner in 2006, was questioned for 75 minutes Thursday by Leigh Bayer, an assistant Ohio attorney general, about meetings with Anthony Cafaro Sr., who was president of his family-owned shopping center business when the JFS move occurred.

He will resume testifying Friday morning.

Among those also slated to testify today include John Zachariah, a former JFS director; Paul Nicks, the head of the Ohio Ethics Commission; Gains; and Linette Stratford, chief assistant county prosecutor.

McNally – one of Yavorcik’s co-defendants along with ex-Mahoning County Auditor Michael V. Sciortino – pleaded guilty on Feb. 26 to four misdemeanors in a deal.

The convictions are related to McNally faxing a confidential letter to the Ulmer & Berne law firm in Cleveland on July 13, 2006, from the county offering $75,000 to buy Oakhill. The firm represented Cafaro.

But on the witness stand Thursday, McNally said he didn’t “believe this was a confidential letter.”

Read more about the testimony in Friday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.