No matter how things change, they always remain the same. The Mahoning Valley used to be mob central -- halfway between Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Once, as a younger lawyer, I went over there to talk to an insured of an insurance company I represented. All the way over, the insurance rep was "No money, no way -- we're not paying anything." We get over there, meet these three goons who were the "insured" and the adjuster immediately caved. On the way back, I asked "Jeff, what happened to 'we're no paying anything"? He said: "It's not worth worrying about starting your car." I guess, it's not totally cleaned up? A retired Summit County Judge, Patricia Cosgrove, has been brought in to preside over this trial in the Mahoning Valley.
In his almost one-hour opening before the seven-woman, five-man jury, the Prosecutor, Daniel Kasaris painted a story of former Niles Mayor, Ralph 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.
Attachment 23464
Prosecutors Paint a Story of Greed, Power