Deputy State Attorney General Patrick Blessington told jurors yesterday that they would witness a bribe: cash delivered to swing the outcome of the Seventh Ward Democratic election and ensure a victory for State Rep. Angel Cruz in 1998.
Blessington addressed the jury at the trial of Cruz, 19th Ward leader Carlos Matos, and four others on trial on charges of bribery and conspiracy in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court.”Literally, you will see a crime occur before your very eyes,” Blessington said.
On June 8, 1998, the day of the election, investigators videotaped election judge Maria Carrasquillo and Seventh Ward Democratic Committeeman Otilio Rodriguez paying two committee members not to vote, Blessington told jurors.
“A picture is worth a thousand words. Maria Carrasquillo – clear as a bell, in living color – hands over the money,” Blessington said.
But defense lawyers told jurors that the case simply highlights the dirty soul of everyday politics in Philadelphia – not criminal activity.
“You've heard the phrase 'business as usual?' ” lawyer Fortunato Perri Jr. asked the jury. “Well, this is Philadelphia politics as usual. . . . This is ward politics, where you roll up your sleeves and get dirty. Yes, you get dirty.”
“Ward politics isn't pleasant, but it's a fact of life in Philadelphia,” Perri said as his client, Carrasquillo, nodded.
Carrasquillo, Cruz, Rodriguez, former 19th Ward leader Sandy Acosta and 19th Ward Committeeman Eluterio Lopez are charged with two counts of bribery and one count of conspiracy each. Matos is charged with three counts of bribery and one count of conspiracy.
The arrests followed a year of investigations by the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office and the state Attorney General's Office.
Cruz was elected ward leader in the Fairhill and Kensington sections of North Philadelphia, a coveted position because ward leaders play a central role in endorsing and supporting party candidates.
Cruz defeated State Rep. Benjamin Ramos for ward leader and ultimately replaced Ramos in the legislature.
Cruz's lawyer, Anthony Cianfrani, told the jury his client is innocent.
“Angel Cruz did not commit a crime, was not part of any conspiracy. The evidence will show he won the election for ward leader and state representative fair and square,” Cianfrani said.
Cruz attended only one of the meetings prosecutors taped. But a wiretap on a cooperating committeeman failed to record the conversation of that meeting, and so did the audio in a secret videotape of the meeting.
Some jurors smiled when Cianfrani and other defense lawyers made much of that video's muddled soundtrack, which played renovation guru Bob Vila explaining a house restoration.
“Mysteriously, the evidence of innocence is gone,” Cianfrani said.
Defense lawyers charged that the loser of that election, Ramos, collaborated with Democratic City Councilman Angel Ortiz in an equally ugly political scheme. Ortiz denies any such scheme.
The day of the ward election, Cianfrani said, Ramos changed his legal address from outside the ward to one within its boundaries.
“Ben Ramos does not live in the Seventh Ward. He used someone else's address,” Cianfrani told the jury in his opening arguments, adding that when asked his address under oath, Ramos refused to provide it and cited his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
“This was a power play by Ben Ramos and Angel Ortiz to come in and take over,” Cianfrani said.
Ramos is expected to testify at trial.
Ortiz said yesterday that the accusations were a ploy by the desperate defense.
“We're not on trial. The evidence is very clear – they're the ones on video and on tape,” Ortiz said.
The U.S. Attorney's Office previously declined to prosecute the case, and the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office referred the case to state authorities, citing a conflict of interest.
Perri told the jurors that Republican Attorney General Mike Fisher, a gubernatorial candidate, was pursuing the case only to give Philadelphia Democrats a “black eye.”
“That charge is blatantly false,” Kevin Harley, spokesman for the Attorney General's Office, said yesterday. “This matter was thoroughly investigated by the District Attorney's Office of Philadelphia . . . and appropriately charged based on the evidence.”
Four months after the alleged bribery scheme began and after three months of investigation by the District Attorney's Office, the case was referred to the state Attorney General's Office because of District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham's close political relationship with former Democratic Seventh Ward leader Patricia Hughes, who helped oversee the election. Hughes has not been charged in the case.
Before the start of trial, defense lawyers had tried to exclude all evidence collected by District Attorney's Office investigators.
If Cruz is convicted, he will be removed from his legislative post after sentencing.
The trial is expected to last two weeks.
Jacqueline Soteropoulos' e-mail address is jsoteropoulos@phillynews.com.