DeBartolo reported payment to IRS

Natalie Gott

Friday, March 24, 2000 | 2:01 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 why an alleged bribe was 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. However, DeBartolo's business associate, Ed Muransky, will testify when court resumes Friday.

The question of whether the trial could continue was raised Thursday, after Bobby Johnson, one of the co-defendants, suffered serious chest pains and was told he must have heart bypass surgery. The triple bypass surgery is scheduled for Tuesday, the earliest date possible, Johnson's wife, Kim, said.

U.S. District Judge Frank Polozola ruled that the trial will continue, although Johnson is out of the courtroom. Defense attorney Patrick Fanning 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.

Jurors were not in court for this portion of the case.

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

"Even with the medication, his blood pressure has been very unstable," Kim Johnson said.

Federal prosecutors opposed Fanning's request to stop the trial, even temporarily. Fanning refused to waive Johnson's presence until he knew Johnson's complete medical condition.

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 from the trial altogether and try his case later.