CLEVELAND, Ohio - Information pertaining to the Cafaro Company figures prominently in the latest evidence prosecutors say they will use in the Oakhill corruption case against a Valley lawyer, an elected official and a former elected official.

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Tim McGinty on Monday filed a notice outlining additional evidence he intends to use in the case against attorney Martin Yavorcik, former Mahoning County Auditor Mike Sciortino, and Youngstown Mayor John McNally.

An 83-count indictment handed up last year alleges that the three conspired to cover up efforts to stop Mahoning County Commissioners from moving some county offices out of property owned by a Cafaro Company business.

Neither the Cafaro Company, nor any of it's officers are charged in the case, but some of evidence the government will use includes 28 pages of emails from employees or agents of the Cafaro Company to Sciortino, some of which contained emails blind copied to Anthony Cafaro, former President and CEO of the Cafaro Company. 

A blind copy allows the sender to transmit a copy of an email to someone without the knowledge of the original recipient.

Some of the new evidence comes from computers seized from Sciortino and Mahoning County offices last September.

The evidence also includes recorded evidence that the prosecution says is relevant to statements made by Yavorcik implicating others in the crimes of bribery, engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity and conspiracy.

Some of the evidence was gathered in 2008 when Yavorcik ran an unsuccessful campaign to unseat Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul Gains.

The government says it will also use a recorded phone call from October 6, 2008, discussing “Belmont Avenue coming through” for Martin Yavorcik, and a campaign worker that Mike Sciortino recommended assist Yavorcik's campaign efforts.

The former corporate headquarters for the Cafaro Company was located on Belmont Avenue at the time, before it was moved to Niles.

Also included in the evidence is a recording from October 25, 2006 between a confidential witness (designated as CW) and Michael Yavorcik (designated as MY), which makes reference to former Mahoning County Democratic Party Chair Mike Morley and Lisa Antonini, who was party chairperson at the time and later became Mahoning County Treasurer.

A partial transcript of that conversation follows:

CW: “And the sides are clearly drawn now.

MY: Oh yeah, there's no more blurring the lines, I agree.

CW: I mean, there's you know, and you know if this, if you don't win, not just Lisa and Mike Sciortino and McNally/ They'll go after Morley, they'll go after the Cafaros, they're gonna go after everybody.

MY: Oh, we gotta win.

CW: Yeah. I mean I know those guys up there that are helping you up there. They know it or they wouldn't be helping. They know it and they're gonna come in for more because they're gonna realize now it is life or death for them too. There's no question about that. I mean there's just no question.

MY: (laughs)

End of transcript:

Antonini resigned her post as treasurer in 2011 and two years later was sentenced to five months in federal prison for failing to report a campaign donation during her 2008 campaign for treasurer.

The prosecutor says another conversation it intends to use has Yavorcik acknowledging that if the investigation goes too far, it will be crushing for those investigated.

A conversation recorded on October 8, 2008 has Yavorcik on the phone discussing with a witness that he must win the 2008 race for county prosecutor or Lisa Antonini and others are going to be indicted.

According to the prosecution, it will use an admission made by Yavorcik to FBI agents in 2010 that “Their (Sciortino, McNally, Reardon, and others) asses are on the line in this election.”

During a February 8, 2011 interview with Yavorcik conducted by FBI agents, the prosecution says statements were made about quashing the “Oakhill” investigation when he would be elected prosecutor in 2008.

Yavorcik lost his bid to become prosecutor, but in July 2011 an earlier 73-count indictment in the Oakhill investigation was dismissed.

Prosecutors say they had to ask for the dismissal because the prosecution was unable to obtain two-thousand hours of tape recordings from the FBI, making it impossible to provide them to the defense attorneys as required by law under the rules of evidence.

Those same recordings figure prominently in this latest case, which is not scheduled to go to trial until next spring.