John Bencivengo is serving a 38-month prison term in Lewisburg, Pa. for taking a bribe from an insurance broker
HAMILTON — Federal prosecutors in the corruption case against former Hamilton Mayor John Bencivengo have asked an appeals court to confirm his conviction, arguing that he clearly had the power to exchange influence for cash.
In a 60-page reply to Bencivengo’s appeal, assistant U.S. attorney Steven Sanders argues that the mayor — who is serving a 38-month prison term in Lewisburg, Pa. — clearly acknowledged that he was accepting money from his Marliese Ljuba, the school district’s former insurance broker, in exchange for “helping out” his friend with the school board.
“Bencivengo did not just promise to use his influence to assist Ljuba in return for the payments she gave him; rather, he confirmed that he was doing his best to fulfill his end of the corrupt bargain,” Sanders writes in the brief. “Ljuba reminded Bencivengo that she would need his help with (school board member Stephanie) Pratico. Bencivengo responded, ‘I’m helping you as much as I can … I helped you, I helped you so far.’”
Even if Bencivengo could prove that he had no authority to influence the school board, as he argued in his Sept. 23 appeal, “common sense shows a bribe-payer would not secretly give $5,000 to a public official unless she reasonably believed that official could deliver,” Sanders said.
“While Bencivengo baldly asserts that none of his actions ‘related to his official duties or responsibilities as mayor’ or were ‘an exercise of official mayoral power,’ a jury rationally could have found to the contrary based on the tape-recorded conversations, the efforts at concealment, Bencivengo’s confession to the FBI and efforts to cooperate,” Sanders wrote in the brief.
A panel of appellate judges will decide whether to hear oral arguments from Sanders and Jerome Ballarotto, Bencivengo’s defense attorney, send the case back to court, or reject the appeal.
Bencivengo was convicted on five counts related to extortion, attempted extortion and money laundering after he solicited and accepted $12,400 in bribes from Ljuba throughout 2011.
Ljuba turned to Bencivengo, who had been facing financial problems at the time, for help when she was faced with the possibility of losing her lucrative school board contract in a public bidding process.
Bencivengo's former community planning director, Rob Warney, is serving an 18-month sentence at a federal correctional institute in Allenwood, Pa., on money laundering charges stemming from the extortion scheme.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office also dismisses Bencivengo’s claim that U.S. Judge Anne Thompson acted in an inappropriate manner during his November 2012 trial, frequently interrupting and chastising defense attorney Jerome Ballarotto.
In September, Ballarotto said Thompson didn’t present herself as neutral to the jury, possibly tainting the ‘guilty’ verdict the jury returned in just four hours.
In his reply brief, Sanders argues that the court is required to “exercise reasonable control” over the examination and cross-examination of witnesses, in order to avoid needless consumption of time and protect the witness from “harassment or undue embarrassment.”
Ballarotto had ample time to cross-examine Ljuba and never filed for a mistrial during the process, Sanders said.
“Bencivengo’s final assignment of error bears all the hallmarks of a Hail Mary pass,” Sanders said in the brief.
Ballarotto did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Contact Mike Davis at (609) 989-5708 or mdavis@njtimes.com.
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