Federal Trial Begins For Vas, Ramos

By Jim Shea (Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Sept. 22, 2010)

NEWARK — U.S. District Court Judge Susan Wigenton formally opened the case
of U.S. vs. Joseph Vas and Melvin Ramos in Room 5C of the King Building and
U.S. District Courthouse promptly at 9:30 a.m. early last week. Judge Wigenton introduced Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian Howe and Jennifer Kramer and defense counsels Jerome Ballarotto, representing Ramos, and Alan Zegas and Edward Byrne, representing Vas. Jury selection began, with the government having 11 challenges and the defense 15.“The trial will take five to six weeks, and will close around Oct. 22.”
the Judge said. “Each daily session will run from 9:30 to 2:30, and today, we’ll go all day.” Wigenton welcomed the potential jurors, proclaiming that “our system works because of the jury system.” Both defendants are “charged with fraud and with violating campaign laws, and making false statements to campaign officials,” Wigenton said. After a brief start at jury-selection, that included sidebars, recessed, Wigenton called both sides into her chambers to set up a new jury-selection procedure. Upon returning, she asked jurors in the jury-box to return to their pre-jury seats, then the clerk called potential jurors, one-by-one, to the jury room for jury-selection. At the end of the following day, the jury was found acceptable to both sides, and Wigenton announced that two motions would be heard at 10 a.m., and the trial would open at 12:30 p.m. following the swearing-in of the jurors. “Do not read about the case, and you are not to Google the case,” she told the jurors. The jury consists of 10 women, six of whom are minorities, and five white men. Kathleen Mikclinchi of the state Council On Affordable Housing (COAH), first to testify on Thursday. She said that COAH is not a funding source, but that towns can transfer up to 50-percent of their obligations to other towns, and Perth Amboy was a recipient in the 1990s. Howe asked about the DeKalb Avenue project, and Mikclinchi said that it “appeared to be a hurried project. That was my take on it. It was a scattered site. It didn’t require COAH approval before it was approved. “In my opinion, it could have been put-together a little cleaner,” she added. Howe then called former Councilman Frank Sinatra to the stand. Sinatra’s testimony took most of Thursday to complete. Confidential Secretary Debbie Palmer took the stand, and was questioned by Kramer about signing a check for $ 1,500 to “Vas for Congress” for her
boyfriend, Carlos Serrano, and also about drafting a letter, signed by Vas, appointing Personnel Director David Benyola as Acting Business Administrator. The Judge asked the jury to leave the courtroom when the prosecution called City Clerk Elaine Jasko. “This witness is so inflammatory that she should not be allowed to make any of the inflammatory remarks,” Zegas said. “If she does, in no way can Mr. Vas be given a fair trial.” The Judge overruled Zegas. During this break, Ramos’s wife Carmen handed her husband a power bar, then turned to this reporter and said, “He has diabetes, and must snack during the day.” The jury returned, and Jasko entered the courtroom, and was questioned briefly about the Council’s Resolution on DeKalb Avenue.The trial does not continue on Fridays, and was adjourned to pick-up with a continuation of Jasko’s testimony early this week, beginning on Monday at 12:30 p.m. A motion was filed by Ballarotto to limit the scope of the government’s cross-examination of character-witnesses on Ramos’s behalf as to their knowledge of alleged criminal activity by Ramos as charged in the indictment. The U.S. Attorney’s Office filed a response, and the Judge is expected to make a ruling on this motion. Wigenton announced that there will be no trial Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 due to “other work.”