Former Niles Mayor found guilty on 22 charges in corruption case
At the end of their first day of deliberations, a Trumbull County Jury has found Former Niles Mayor Ralph Infante guilty on several charges..
After deliberating for just one day, a Trumbull County Jury has found former long-time Niles Mayor Ralph Infante guilty on 22 of 32 criminal charges.
Shortly after reading the verdict bond for the 62 year old was revoked and Infante was taken into custody.
The jury began deliberating for the first time at 9 Monday morning only taking a lunch break and a few short restroom breaks as they deliberated in the public corruption trial.
The jury received the case late Friday afternoon but asked a judge to be allowed to pick up fresh on Monday morning.
They considered 32 criminal charges against Infante, who was accused of charges include bribery, tampering with records, theft in office, having an unlawful interest in a public contract, falsification and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity.
The jury found Infante guilty on 22 of those charges including 13 of 16 counts of tampering with records. Four counts of gambling and operating a gambling house related to his ownership of his ITAM #39 Club, two counts of theft in office, and one count each for unlawful interest in a public contract, falsification and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity.
Infante was found not guilty on all five charges of bribery which could mean the prosecution's witnesses were not convincing when it came to that aspect of the case.
Infante was originally charged with more than 40 charges, however, several were dismissed during the course of his trial.
Some of those closest to Infante over his 24 years as the Niles Mayor testified that he allegedly accepted bribes in order to give people jobs with the city.
They also claimed that he accepted gifts such as national championship tickets from millionaire mall developer Anthony Cafaro, Senior that he never reported on his financial disclosure forms as required when running for office.
But the defense argued Infante is not a criminal, he was a Mayor who sometimes didn't always have the best memory, but did his best to help others out.
Several people who accepted plea deals testified against Infante.
The former Mayor also took the witness stand in his own defense and denied all the allegations against him.
Infante is scheduled to be sentenced at 10 a.m. on Friday.
