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Trafficking case delayed so internet posts can be obtained
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Trial for four people accused of human trafficking will be delayed until at least next month so attorneys can obtain several thousand Facebook posts.
The four had a pretrial hearing Tuesday in Mahoning County Common Pleas áourt before Judge Lou D’Apolito. But after attorneys in the case conferred, it was decided to have a pretrial hearing next month, to give them time to collect about 12,000 Facebook posts related to the case.
The outgoing judge set a Jan. 14 hearing for the case, which will be heard by his replacement, Judge Anthony Donofrio.
Judge D’Apolito said he understands there is a good chance that all the posts will not be obtained by then but he said the attorneys will be expected to be making progress in obtaining them by the next pretrial date.
Charged are Ronald Hellman, 51, who faces 22 counts of prostitution, trafficking and sexual-assault charges; Lori Jackson, 43, of Warren, who faces compelling prostitution charges involving a relative; Elaine Hellman, 71, Ronald Hellman’s mother, who faces a count of obstructing justice for using her position as a call-taker in the Youngstown 911 center to warn her son of the investigation; and James Jaster, 73, on compelling prostitution charges.
A fifth person who was indicted, Charles Krusak, 78, killed himself in the back yard of his Austintown home before he could be taken into custody.
A search warrant was served in July at Krusak’s home after the state attorney general’s office received a tip that someone in the home was producing child pornography.
At the time, authorities with the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force, which includes the attorney general’s office, seized videos and other media devices.
The indictment lists 12 victims by their initials, most at least 16 and 17 years old, but there is one 33-year-old person also listed as a victim.
The conduct alleged in the indictment began in 2012 and ended June 28.