June 8, 2010 Updated 3:37 p.m.
CLEVELAND -- Former mall executive John J. "J.J." Cafaro was sentenced this afteroon to three years probation and 150 hours of community service and ordered to pay a $250,000 fine. (WATCH UPDATED BUZZ). Before his sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Kathleen O'Malley, Cafaro apologized.
"I would like to say I'm humbled an embarrassed that I'm here today," he said. "The decision was mine and mine alone. I want to apologize to you the court, to the government, to my family, and to my friends for my being here today. I am willing to accept the decision of the court."
Cafaro was sentenced for violating federal election law in 2004, when he hid a contribution to his daughter's congressional campaign that year.
Attorneys for Cafaro had asked for a sentence of up to six months' probationand a fine of between $500 and $5,000.
In court March 17, Cafaro, 58, pleaded guilty to one count of making a materially false statement related to a contribution he made to his daughter Capri Cafaro's bid for Congress in 2004. Cafaro concealed a $10,000 contribution to the campaign; under federal law, personal contributions are limited to $2,000.
In February, federal prosecutors charged that Cafaro, a former executive with The Cafaro Co. in Youngstown, "knowingly and willingly caused to be falsified, concealed, and covered up by trick, scheme and device material facts" regarding the loan money, causing the Capri Cafaro for Congress Campaign to file a report that falsely stated the elder father donated jut $2,000 to the campaign. Instead, Cafaro funneled an additional $10,000 to the campaign through loans to a campaign staffer.
Capri Cafaro, now a Democratic state senator and minority leader, ran in 2004 against U.S. Rep. Steve LaTourette, R-14 Ohio. She was defeated in the race.
"Although I wanted to help my daughter in her campaign, I made a mistake for which I am solely responsible," the elder Cafaro said in a statement released Feb. 22, the day charges were filed against him. He stressed that his daughter was not involved, and he regretted the embarrassment he had caused her "or those who work with her."
In 2001, Cafaro pleaded guilty to bribery and racketeering charges related to the case of then-U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. Cafarp testified that he gave Traficant $13,000 in bribes to secure favorable treatment for an aircraft company he owned in Virginia and a landing light product the company produced. Capri Cafaro was an executive of the company.
Cafaro received probation but no jail time in exchange for his cooperation and testimony. Traficant was released from federal prison last September after serving seven years for bribery, racketeering and tax evasion. He is now running for Congress as an independent against incumbent U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-17 Ohio, who had been an aide in his office, and Republican Jim Graham.
Cafaro, was jailed briefly following his conviction in March after U.S. District Judge John R. Adams learned from federal prosecutors that he had not provided the pretrial services officer with personal financial information that would allow the court to set bond.
Cafaro retired in January from The Cafaro Co. as vice-president, and subsequently became the principal investor in and sole owner of Linens & More, a home-décor retail company based in Brookfield scheduled to open its first location in Howland next month.
Among those offering testimonials to Cafaro's "character and contributions to the community" were retired local radio personality Pete Gabriel, Msgr. John DeMarinis of St. Anthony Parish, Joseph Lordi, chief executive officer of the Gleaners Food Bank, and Cafaro's wife, Janet.
Copyright 2010 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.