DeBartolo reported payment to IRS

Natalie Gott

Thursday, March 23, 2000 | 4:56 a.m.

BATON ROUGE, La. - Former San Francisco 49ers owner Edward DeBartolo Jr. filed a tax form reporting to the IRS that he paid $400,000 to former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards - the same $400,000 that prosecutors call a bribe.

Dan Small, Edwards' attorney, showed jurors in Edwards' racketeering trial Thursday that DeBartolo had filed the 1099 form to report the payment for tax purposes.

The payment, made to Edwards in 1997, is the linchpin of the government's case.

DeBartolo has said the payment was a bribe and pleaded guilty to not reporting a felony to the government.

Word that DeBartolo had filed tax forms about the payment came during cross-examination of FBI agent Geoffrey Santini. It was not immediately explained how a bribe could be reported as a legal payment for tax purposes.

Edwards, his son Stephen, and five others have been on trial since Jan. 10, accused in a series of schemes to manipulate the way the state awarded riverboat casino licenses. The schemes allegedly began before Edwards took his fourth and final term in office in 1992 and continued after he left office in 1996.

During cross examination, Small pointed out that Edwards originally said the $400,000 in cash seized from his safe came from timber and cattle sales, gambling winnings and earned income.

Prosecutors have noted that Edwards changed his statement later to say it came from DeBartolo. Small argued that the earned income could, in fact, refer to money from DeBartolo, even though Edwards never mentioned his name.

That was when he showed jurors the tax form.

DeBartolo, the government's star witness, apparently will not get to the stand until next week. The government has indicated that a couple more FBI agents and one of DeBartolo's aides will testify before he is called.

The question of whether the trial could continue was raised Thursday, after Bobby Johnson, one of the co-defendants, was hospitalized and told he will have open heart surgery as early as Friday.

U.S. District Judge Frank Polozola ruled that the trial will continue, although Johnson is out of the courtroom. Defense attorney Patrick Fanning told him that tests Wednesday showed that Johnson needs an immediate quadruple bypass. He asked the judge to recess court at least until he knew Johnson's full medical report.

Polozola refused, saying court will proceed because Johnson is not involved in the part of the government's case being presented, which concerns the $400,000.

Johnson left court early last week and has been missing parts of the trial since then. He has consistently complained that his blood pressure is high from the stress of the trial, and has been taking medicine in an attempt to avoid surgery.

Fanning told the court that he got word about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday that Johnson needs an operation. "He may have the surgery by tomorrow, or, not tomorrow, by early next week," Fanning said.

Federal prosecutors opposed Fanning's request to stop the trial, even temporarily.

Polozola said he will reconsider the situation when the current part of the trial is over and will decide then whether to continue the trial, delay it or remove Johnson's trial from the others.

He noted that if any witness is asked about Johnson, his attorney may question that witness.

Johnson's name quickly came up once testimony resumed Thursday, when Small questioned Santini about fingerprints on money seized from Edwards' home and safe deposit box.

Small asked whether Johnson's fingerprints were found on any of the cash. Fanning asked to speak with the judge, who told jurors that medical problems kept Johnson out of the courtroom.

"He's not trying to be disrespectful to anybody," the judge said.

FBI agents did not find the fingerprints of Edwin or Stephen Edwards, or of DeBartolo or government witness Bobby Guidry, Santini told Small.

After looking at FBI reports, Santini acknowledged that investigators found only 66 fingerprints and seven palm prints on more than 4,500 pieces of money taken from Edwards' house and safe deposit box.

He said it is very difficult to get the prints.

Small made a point of noting that defense attorneys did not receive the FBI report about the fingerprints until they asked for it Thursday.

Small also tried to get Santini to say how much the government spent on the wiretaps. "Didn't the government spend over $1.4 million on these wiretaps in this case?" he asked.

Federal prosecutors objected, and Santini did not have to answer.

"Wasn't this the most expensive wiretap in the whole country?" Small asked.

Prosecutors again objected.

The cost of the investigation was irrelevant, Polozola said.