TINA MARKOE KINSLOW/Courier-Post Mayor Milton Milan heads into federal court in Camden Mon day for opening arguments and testimony in his corruption trial.

Prosecution, defense argue merits of Milan case

By CLINT RILEYand RENEE WINKLER
Courier-Post staff
CAMDEN

Greed. Opportunity. Deception.

Those are what fueled Camden Mayor Milton Milan to make deals with a drug trafficker, the mob and anyone else he could squeeze for a dime, a government prosecutor argued in U.S. District Court on Monday.

The audience: a jury of eight women, four men and four alternates considering a smorgasbord of federal corruption charges against Milan. The 16 South Jerseyans have the task, during the next four to six weeks of testimony and argument, of deciding whether Milan is the corrupt man prosecutors say he is or a victim of a political witch hunt based on the word of criminals, as the mayor and his defense team maintained during opening arguments.

The 38-year-old Milan faces 19 criminal charges that could land him in prison for more than a decade, if he is convicted.

The first-term mayor, who has pleaded innocent to all charges, is on trial for crimes he allegedly committed both before and after he was sworn in as City Council president in January 1996, then mayor in July 1997.

The government alleges that, before assuming office, Milan laundered more than $60,000 in illegal drug profits and helped stage a break-in at his own business to collect insurance payments on stolen office equipment. Prosecutors also say Milan, once elected, accepted payoffs from organized crime figures and vendors interested in obtaining city contracts, diverted $7,500 from a political fund to pay for a post-election trip to Puerto Rico and extorted a bribe from a city official.

``I'm anxious to get it on,'' Milan said, moments after exiting his black sport utility vehicle in front of the U. S. District Courthouse in Camden, shortly before court began Monday morning. ``It's sort of a political puberty I have to go through in order to become the elected official that I know one day I will be.''

Inside a packed third-floor courtroom, Assistant U.S. S. Attorney Mary A. Futcher told jurors during a two-hour opening argument that the citizens of Camden deserve better than they have received from Milan.

``The pattern of greed, opportunity and deception will show the defendant for what he is: a corrupt public official who would take money and benefits from anyone, anywhere, anytime,'' Futcher said.

The prosecutor described the oath of office Milan took as ``a fraud.''

All the while, she said, Milan hid high-level, criminal relationships with convicted Camden drug lord Jose ``JR'' Rivera, admitted Philadelphia/South Jersey mob boss Ralph Natale and others.

Among the things the government will attempt to prove are that Milan knew $65,000 he and former business partner Gholam ``Joseph'' Darakhshan borrowed from Rivera in late 1994 was drug money, Futcher said. The two men borrowed the cash from Rivera to obtain a bond so their now-defunct construction company, Atlas Contracting Inc., could continue building 13 homes in Arthur's Court in Camden.

Evidence also will show Milan and Darakhshan share share responsibility for staging a burglary at Atlas' Haddon Avenue office in December 1995 and collecting more than $4, 700 from an insurance company for two computers and a printer they reported stolen, Futcher said. Milan is accused of later putting one of the stolen computers in the mayor's office, then selling it to City Hall intern Wilfredo Ramirez at an inflated price.

The prosecutor said the evidence also will prove Milan was doing business with the mob within three months of being sworn in as City Council president. She said Milan continued to accept cash and gifts from the mob - through mob associate Daniel Daidone - until Natale was sent back to prison on a parole violation in June 1998.

"When Natale found Milton Milan, he found exactly what he was looking for," Futcher said.

Natale, Rivera and Darakhshan all are government witnesses who reached agreements with federal prosecutors to take the stand against Milan in the coming days and weeks.

U.S. District Court Judge Joel A. Pisano ruled Monday that Rivera may testify about his relationship with Milan, including that the mayor knew Rivera was in the illegal drug business. In the same ruling, however, the judge barred prosecutors from allowing convicted Camden drug lord Saul ``Gordo'' Febo to testify that Milan taught him the drug business and bought a kilogram of cocaine from him in 1992. The judge said such testimony from Febo would unfairly prejudice Milan, who is not charged with dealing illegal drugs.

Carlos A. Martir Jr., Milan's lead defense attorney, said during his 40-minute opening argument that Milan is innocent and that jurors should not trust the likes of Natale, Rivera and Darakhshan, all convicted felons.

``The government has lined up a group of individuals who are the real criminals,'' Martir said. ``The government has made a pact with devils.''

He noted that one central witness not expected to take the witness stand for the government is Daidone, a former bartenders' union official described by prosecutors as Natale's go-between with Milan.

``Dan Daidone has not been charged in this case,`` Martir told jurors. ``Why is he not here?''

The answer to that question remains a mystery. Futcher told jurors they will hear recorded conversations from Daidone's cellular telephone, including one during which he allegedly speaks directly with Milan about delivering money to the mayor's office.

Martir told jurors he believes federal prosecutors are trying to use the criminal court to remove Milan from office, a task they could not accomplish by other means.

``The evidence will show this case is about politics, nothing more,'' Martir said.

When all the evidence is presented, Martir said, jurors will know that Milan was not a puppet of the mob and other crooks - but rather an elected leader who tried to bring economic development to a long-depressed city. He said no one from whom Milan is accused of accepting personal favors - including members of the mob - received city business.

``Your job is not to decide what the mayor did, but what other people hoped would happen,'' Martir said.

Portions of the case jurors will be presented in coming weeks are extremely technical - as initial testimony offered Monday illustrates.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Renee M. Bumb began the prosecution's case by pulling handfuls of files from boxes stacked in the well of the courtroom, presenting several to each of three bank managers who dealt with Milan, his wife, business partner, or a former employee of Atlas, Geoffrey M. Garvey.

The witnesses, from PNC and Summit banks and from the South Jersey Federal Credit Union, referred to a chain of deposits and withdrawals made in November 1994 that form the base of the government claim that Milan participated in a scheme to launder profits of Rivera's illegal drug operation and structured bank transactions to avoid IRS IRS reporting requirements.

All three managers testified that if transactions conducted at various banks had been confined to one institution or even to different branches of one bank, they would have been required to file a currency transaction report. Those reports are mandated for any cash transactions - either deposits or withdrawals - of more than $10,000.

Judith Cruz, branch service manager for the PNC bank in center city Camden, said records showed Atlas Construction Co. purchased a $60,000 certificate of deposit on Dec. 22, 1994, a document it needed as collateral for a bond on a project. That certificate of deposit was cashed in on Aug. 22, 1995 for $61,542.17. All but $20,000 of the proceeds of the certificate of deposit were placed in the Atlas account, Cruz said.

Several of the checks written by Milan were deposited in the account of JR's Custom Auto Parts Inc.

Additional banking records will be presented to the jury today, before prosecutors call Darakhshan, Milan's former business partner, as a witness.