Prosecutors paint a story of greed, power

Testimony begins today in Infante trial

WARREN -- Senior Assistant Ohio Attorney General Daniel Kasaris began his opening statement in the political corruption trial of ex-Niles Mayor Ralph Infante Tuesday afternoon by pointing to three words on the large video screen at the rear of the courtoom: greed, power and deception.

In his almost one-hour opening before the seven-woman, five-man jury, Kasaris painted a story of Infante lying on government forms, hiding gifts and money from bribes and other gambling income from authorities, in addition to lying to federal and state agents.

"His nickname was the 'Boss' and he was running this operation for almost the entire 24 years he was in the mayor's office," Kasaris said about the man who was mayor of Niles from early 1992 to late 2016.

Infante, 63, faces 16 counts of tampering with records, two counts of gambling, two counts of operating a gambling house, seven counts of soliciting improper compensation, two counts of theft in office, eight counts of bribery and one count each of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, possessing criminal tools, having an unlawful interest in a public contract and falsification.

He is accused of running a political profiteering racket and operating an illegal gambling business with sports betting and slot machines for decades out of his business, ITAM 39 in McKinley Heights.

The trial, presided over by visiting Summit County retired Judge Patricia Cosgrove, is expected to resume with state's testimony at 9 a.m. today in the courtroom of Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge Peter Kontos.

During his opening, which took only about 10 minutes, Infante's attorney John Juhasz said the prosecutor's opening sounded pretty bad for his client.

"You've heard for about 50 minutes a hair-raising story, but what he told you was not evidence. The prosecutor was not in the witness chair," Juhasz said.

Juhasz advised the jurors to keep an open mind, be objective and listen to all the evidence presented.

"You've heard two days of lawyer talk, how about we get into some evidence," Juhasz concluded.

Kasaris said the investigation begin in earnest against Infante after Niles Councilman Stephen Papalas, D-at Large, found discrepancies in financial reports from Infante and then-Auditor Charles Nader.

However, Kasaris said, governmental agents questioned Infante in 2009 about $8,000 worth of football tickets they said he received from the Cafaro family but did not report as a gift. The tickets were for the 2007 NCAA National Championship Game in Arizona between Ohio State and the University of Florida.

Kasaris said Infante admitted he made a mistake by not reporting the tickets as gifts during that 2009 recorded interview, but when the subject of the football tickets was revisited in December 2015, Kasaris said Infante changed his story, saying the tickets were given to him by his wife as a birthday present.

Infante also was accused of abusing his power as mayor, including waiving tens of thousands of dollars in building fees, including fees owed by the Cafaro Corp., which owns the Eastwood Mall Complex.

As for the charge of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, Kasaris said he only needs to prove two of the accusations.

"But we have many," he said in talking about the mayor accepting bribes in return for jobs and promotions, letting city employees keep money from selling city-owned scrap metal to fund an office Christmas party and allowing city employees to use city-owned equipment for personal use.

Kasaris said the first of some 30 state witnesses, who are expected to come to the stand today, are some of the government agents from the FBI and state Auditor's office and Ethics Commission who interviewed the ex-mayor during the course of the investigation.

The attorneys and the judge took all of Tuesday morning, working through the lunch hour, to seat the jury that also included four alternates of one woman and three men.

During jury questioning, the attorneys asked jurors if they knew those on the potential witness list, including businessmen Anthony Cafaro Jr., Anthony Cafaro Sr., J.J. Cafaro and Bruce Zoldan, Niles Councilmen Steve Papalas and Robert Marino, former officials like former city engineer and former county transit official Mark Hess, Port Authority Director John Moliterno, former Auditor Neil Buccino and former Niles Councilman Reggie Giancola.