Jurors heard testimony from former city water meter reader Charles Hall III and from Mary Manfredo, the owner of JoJos’ Steak House and Giorgianni’s caretaker.
Trenton Mayor Tony Mack (L) and brother Ralphiel Mack exit the Federal Court House in Trenton, NJ, January 17, 2014. The week was shortened by the Martin Luther King Day holiday and by weather delays, but the jurors heard testimony from former city water meter reader Charles Hall III, who agreed to cooperate with the FBI, and from Mary Manfredo, the owner of JoJos’ Steak House and Giorgianni’s caretaker.
Hall struggled through the cross-examination from defense attorneys Robert Haney and Mark Davis, repeatedly contradicting statements he had made days, hours or even minutes before in court, and often said he could not recall specific events in the case. Haney and Davis contend the Macks were not involved in the bribery scheme.
Several times Hall changed his mind about when he accepted payments from Giorgianni, at first saying he got cash in March, then changing his mind, saying it was June.
Hall, who was on the stand for a week, also said he couldn’t remember if Carmen Melendez, who was then the city’s acting director of the Department of Housing and Economic Development, was in attendance at a January 2012 meeting at the steak house to discuss the parking garage project that was the center of the bribery scam.
Hall broke into tears on the stand when he was questioned about a June 27, 2012, meeting with Tony Mack at a Morrisville, Pa., baseball field. At that meeting, Hall, who had just agreed to cooperate with the FBI, wore a wire and tried to give Mack a $10,000 cash bribe payment.
“It was a baseball game my son was playing in,” Hall said, tears filling his eyes.
After the game, Hall and Mack went to eat at a nearby pizzeria where Hall testified he offered Mack the cash. Mack told Hall to take the money to Giorgianni, Hall testified.
Hall admitted he never asked Mack to get into his car, where another recording device was planted, and no recordings were successfully made of that meeting.
Mack and his brother were arrested alongside Giorgianni on Sept. 10, 2012, following a two-year FBI investigation. An indictment filed in December 2012 alleged the group extorted thousands of dollars in bribes from two representatives of the supposed garage developers, who were working with the FBI.
The defense attorneys have argued that the Mack brothers were set up by Giorgianni and Hall who were trying to use the mayor to get a lesser sentence when they knew the FBI had proof they were involved in an oxycodone distribution ring.
Haney has argued that the money found in Ralphiel Mack’s home when the FBI raided it in June 2012, was a loan from Giorgianni. The serial numbers on that money matched those on the cash that passed from the FBI informants to Giorgianni.
On Friday, Hall stepped down from the witness stand and the government called Manfredo, who testified that she witnessed two cash transactions — one between Giorgianni and Tony Mack and another where Giorgianni gave cash to Ralphiel Mack.
Manfredo testified that she did not know much about the scheme, other than what she could deduce from her post behind the counter at the steak shop, but knew that money was being passed through the back room.
Manfredo said although Giorgianni was known to give loans to people, she knew the money passed to the Macks was not expected to be repaid.
“To your knowledge did Mr. Giorgianni ever lend money to Tony Mack?” asked Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Moran.
“No,” Manfredo replied.
“Did Mr. Giorgianni ever lend money to Ralphiel Mack, to your knowledge?” Moran asked.
“No,” she said.
Manfredo is expected to continue her testimony tomorrow. It is also expected the government will call Melendez to testify before they rest their case.
Contact Jenna Pizzi at jpizzi@njtimes.com or (609) 989-5717.
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