McGuffey Mall move tops list of Oakhill corruption evidence

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Records relating to the move of some Mahoning County offices out of a Cafaro Company owned property tops the latest list of evidence that prosecutors plan to use in the trial of two local politicians and an attorney facing 83 charges.
The prosecution has filed a second set of documents in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court responding to defense attorney's request for evidence that the state intends to use in the Oakhill corruption case.
Poland attorney Martin Yavorcik, Youngstown Mayor John McNally and Mahoning County Auditor Michael Sciortino, are accused of taking part in a criminal enterprise in connection with the investigation into the purchase of the Oakhill Renaissance Center.
The three are accused of trying to cover up an alleged conspiracy to keep Mahoning County from moving Job and Family Services offices out of the McGuffey Mall to Oakhill.
At the top of the list of the seven pieces of evidence are records pertaining to the cost of the move from the McGuffey Mall, which is owned by Ohio Valley Mall, one of the companies operated by the Cafaro Company.
The prosecution also says it plans to submit as evidence, documents requested when the Ohio Valley Mall sued the Mahoning County Commissioners in 2006, challenging the county's decision to buy Oakhill.
According to the indictment which was handed up in May, McNally and Sciortino made false statements in the case.
Prosecutors have also provided defense attorneys with what is described as “arrangements that the government has made with three witnesses.” The document does not identify those witnesses, or say if the witnesses include any of the three confidential sources, some of whom provided investigators with more than 700 hours of secretly taped conversations that will also be used as evidence.
The government also plans to use interviews conducted with additional witnesses not named in the document filed last week.
Two pieces of evidence relate to County Auditor Michael Sciortino. The prosecution will use Michael Sciortino's videotaped interview with WFMJ print partner, The Vindicator, and another interview conducted with Sciortino in May of this year.
Finally, the prosecution says it will use emails from Craig Miller of the law firm of Ulmer and Berne, which represented the Ohio Valley Mall when it sued the county commissioners over the Oakhill move. The government says that Miller received confidential information in those emails.
Defense attorneys have until December to file any motions to dismiss charges or challenge the court's jurisdiction in the case. The next pretrial is scheduled for December 22.