Stung by testimony that his client, Rafael “Ray” Frias, took a $500 bribe from an undercover federal agent, defense attorney David Stetler went on the attack Thursday, renewing his portrayal of Frias as a reluctant participant who repeatedly rebuffed offers of future $500 payoffs.
During a sometimes cantankerous cross-examination of agent Mark Sofia, Stetler pointed to numerous occasions where Frias resisted monetary offers during a Nov. 2, 1994, meeting with Sofia and government mole John Christopher. The meeting was videotaped by a hidden camera in Christopher’s South Side office while Frias, now the 12th Ward alderman, was a state representative.
“Frias made it clear he didn’t want weekly payments, didn’t he?” Stetler asked Sofia during the trial in federal court.
“Yes,” Sofia replied.
Then a bit later: “Wasn’t it crystal clear to you that he didn’t want the $500 this day?” Stetler asked.
“That is true. He didn’t want it that day,” Sofia replied.
Stetler then played the videotape of the meeting that shows Sofia reaching into his shirt pocket and taking out $500.
“Do you want this or not?” Sofia asks Frias on the tape.
Frias refuses the money, saying “that’s not what I’m looking for.”
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The exchange goes to the heart of Frias’ defense.
Although he has not disputed taking one payoff, Frias contends he was entrapped by aggressive agents who were relentless in trying to win him over with promises of weekly payoffs and an unlimited expense account.
Frias, 36, is on trial on charges of taking the $500 bribe and attempting to extort a $25,000 payoff as part of the ongoing Operation Silver Shovel federal probe of public corruption.
During the four-day trial, prosecutors have played video and audio tapes of meetings between Frias, Sofia and Christopher, a corrupt waste hauler who became a government informant.
It was at one of those meetings that Frias took $500 from Sofia.
Throughout the day Thursday, Stetler pointed to numerous conversations where he alleged the government entrapped his client. He reiterated that the words “bribe” and “payoff” were never used in any conversation and he said Frias never asked for a payoff.
In addition to the $500 he took at the restaurant, prosecutors contend Frias later tried to extort $25,000 from Christopher.
But Stetler contended Frias was simply trying to fend off Christopher by raising the possibility of accepting a large campaign contribution 18 months later when he planned a run for Congress.
Earlier Thursday, prosecutors played a 45-minute audio tape of a conversation between Frias and Sofia as they drove through the 12th Ward looking for sites for a rock-crushing operation that Frias had offered to help the agent set up.
During that talk, Sofia is heard bringing up the possibility of giving Frias money in 18 months.
“I need a ballpark figure of what we’re talking about so that I know if it’s realistic for me,” Sofia says to Frias.
“In terms of, uh, money?” Frias asks.
Yes, Sofia responds.
“You know Mark, I don’t have, like we said, 25,000,” Frias says.
Frias then backs away from that figure, saying he doesn’t want to name a price. Instead, he says he wants to “set things up for you like this and a few other things.”
Then, after telling Sofia that he was in no hurry to make a “quick buck,” Frias says:
“Greed is not in my vocabulary. And you know, I think that’s always been the downfall of a lot of people.”