USA v. Bruno 16 Nov 2009 Stackrow Pt 1

8/14/2019 USA v. Bruno 16 Nov 2009 Stackrow Pt 1

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Stackrow - Direct - Pericak

1 for us your educational background and employment history

2 prior to starting work for Senator Bruno?

3 A I graduated from high school, worked for one of

4 the local banks for awhile, a car dealership, lobby

5 organizations, two -- three different lobby organizations

6 before I worked for the Senator.

7 Q All right. What was your first title or position

8 when you first started working for Senator Bruno 24 years

9 ago?

10 A Secretary/receptionist.

11 Q How many people were on the staff at that point?

12 A Approximately ten.

13 Q Where was your office located then?

14 A In the Legislative Office Building.

15 Q That's across the street from The Capital?

16 A Yes.

17 Q All right. Were there -- did Senator Bruno have

18 counsel, legislative counsel?

19 A Yes.

20 Q Who was that?

21 A Michael Rosen.

22 Q And how long did Mr. Rosen stay with him? I am

23 gonna withdraw that question.

24 A Okay.

25 Q After Mr. Rosen left, who became his counsel?

THERESA J. CASAL, RPR, CRR

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT - NDNY


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1 A Could I interrupt you for a second?

2 Q Sure.

3 A I have a very difficult time putting things in a

4 time line --

5 Q Okay.

6 A -- okay? I know there are people who can say that

7 such and such happened on such and such a date. I can't do

8 that.

9 Q I'll try to stay away from that then.

10 After Mr. Rosen, who was Senator Bruno's

11 counsel?

12 A Tim Collins.

13 Q Okay. Now, what were your duties and

14 responsibilities in the early years? And I am gonna

15 withdraw that.

16 Do you remember a point in time when Senator

17 Bruno became Senator Majority Leader?

18 A Yes.

19 Q I am gonna go before and after. So, before

20 Senator Bruno became Senator Majority Leader, what were your

21 duties and responsibilities?

22 A As receptionist, to answer the phone, dealt with

23 mail, incoming and outgoing mail; did a lot of his personal

24 business. The Senator got a packet every night that was

25 basically his homework. I was responsible for assembling




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1 that during the day. That included staff memos, things that

2 he needed to know for the next day's operations. And then

3 when that came back in the morning, I would disburse that to

4 various staff.

5 Q Okay. Now, this packet started before he became

6 Senator Majority Leader?

7 A Yes.

8 Q All right. And after Senator Bruno became Senator

9 Majority Leader -- first of all, did he get some additional

10 office space somewhere?

11 A Yes.

12 Q Where was that?

13 A When he became Majority Leader, he got office

14 space in The Capital and we had a satellite office at

15 150 State Street.

16 Q What was in 150 State Street?

17 A The people who worked in 150 State Street dealt

18 primarily with the Saratoga and Rensselaer County district

19 issues.

20 Q Were those people who had previously worked in the

21 Legislative Office Building?

22 A Yes.

23 Q Did you actually physically change your office

24 location when Senator Bruno became Majority Leader?

25 A Yes.




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1 Q Where did you move to?

2 A We moved to the ninth floor in the Legislative

3 Office Building. There's a Majority Leader's suite on the

4 ninth floor. We also had a suite on the third floor of The

5 Capital.

6 Q And which of those two locations did you sit in?

7 A I was in both for awhile.

8 Q That's hard to do.

9 A It's a lot of boxes back and forth.

10 Q Did that eventually settle down and you --

11 A Yes, it did.

12 Q And where did you wind up?

13 A In the Legislative Office Building.

14 Q All right. And where did Senator Bruno, I know

15 this is hard to say, but did he spend more time in the

16 Legislative Office Building or in The Capital or in the

17 district office of the three offices?

18 A He balanced his time between The Capital and the

19 Legislative Office Building and then maybe the last four,

20 possibly five years, spent most of his time in The Capital

21 office.

22 Q After Senator Bruno became Senator Majority

23 Leader, did the size of the staff change?

24 A Yes.

25 Q How big did it get?




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1 A Individual staff that were in his, like 150 State

2 Street, The Capital, Legislative -- I would say probably

3 20 to 25. Overall, he was responsible for all of the

4 central staff in the Senate and that was probably close to a

5 thousand people.

6 Q All right. Now, prior to Senator Bruno becoming

7 Senator Majority Leader, where were the central staff

8 located, where were their offices?

9 A Central staff is located in several different

10 buildings. We have office space out at Corporate Woods,

11 there was -- let me see. A Swan Street building. Some

12 people were in the Alfred E. Smith building. And in the

13 agency buildings on the concourse, there was also central

14 staff there.

15 Q So, how easy was it to assemble the packet every

16 evening for Senator Bruno?

17 A It would be a 3 o'clock in the afternoon phone

18 call telling various people what time the packet was leaving

19 so that they would get stuff to me on time.

20 Q That was one of your jobs was to make sure that

21 everything that was supposed to be in the packet got there?

22 A Yes.

23 Q Now, how did -- or withdrawn. Did you keep track

24 of Senator Bruno's schedule and appointments?

25 A Yes, when I first started to work for him, that




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1 was one of my jobs. When he became Majority Leader, it

2 became an absolutely overwhelming task and Leslie King then

3 became in charge of his scheduling.

4 Q All right. Did you maintain some record or book

5 that was sort of the --

6 A Yes.

7 Q -- his schedule?

8 A Yes.

9 Q And what was that maintained in?

10 A It was maintained in the Legislative Office

11 Building with Leslie King.

12 Q And what physically did it look like?

13 A It's a very large red, hard cop- -- hard book.

14 It's not a loose-leaf notebook. It's a bound red book.

15 Q And it's a calendar?

16 A It's a calendar, um-hum.

17 Q And every day, a page for a day?

18 A A page for a day.

19 Q And what would you do in order to -- withdrawn.

20 Who made entries into the calendar to keep track of his

21 schedule?

22 A Both Leslie and I did.

23 Q And did you have the authority to schedule things

24 for the Senator?

25 A Yes.




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1 Q So if somebody called, you could make an

2 appointment at a particular time and place?

3 A Yes.

4 Q I wanted to show you some excerpts and I want to

5 ask you if these are excerpts from the calendar that you've

6 just described for various years.

7 MR. PERICAK: And your Honor, I am just gonna read

8 these into the record.

9 THE COURT: They're in evidence?

10 MR. PERICAK: Some are in evidence, but not all,

11 and I am gonna move the admission of those that are not yet

12 in evidence.

13 THE COURT: Is there some preliminary agreement,

14 foundations that need to be laid? Where are we?

15 MR. LOWELL: There is a preliminary agreement,

16 your Honor, so I just need to keep track when he says them

17 outloud.

18 THE COURT: All right. Go ahead. If the two of

19 you are happy, I'm happy. Go ahead.

20 MR. PERICAK: GA-2, GC-1, GF-20, GH-4, GH-11,

21 GI-5, GJ-4 page 4, GO-4, GT-1 page 3, GT-10 page 3, GT-16

22 page 2, GT-29, GU-9, GU-80, and GU-84.

23 BY MR. PERICAK:

24 Q Miss Stackrow, I am just gonna ask you to leaf

25 through these and my question is gonna be whether you can




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1 confirm that each of these are excerpts from Senator Bruno's

2 calendar that was kept by you and Miss King.

3 THE COURT: Mr. Lowell.

4 MR. LOWELL: If I can have five seconds, I think

5 we can clear this up.

6 (Pause in proceedings.)

7 MR. LOWELL: Subject to Mr. Pericak's and my

8 conversation, I have no objection.

9 THE COURT: All right.

10 (Government Exhibits GA-2, GC-1, GF-20,

11 GH-4, GH-11, GI-5, GJ-4 page 4, GO-4,

12 GT-1 page 3, GT-10 page 3, GT-16 page 2,

13 GT-29, GU-9, GU-80, and GU-84 received.)

14 BY MR. PERICAK:

15 Q Miss Stackrow, the pages I gave you were calendars

16 attached to something else. I'm only asking you about the

17 calendar excerpt page itself.

18 A All right.

19 MR. LOWELL: With that clarification, no

20 objection.

21 THE COURT: While she's reviewing those, let me

22 make sure I understand what counsel is indicating to me.

23 Are we indicating that insofar as these exhibits constitute

24 a calendar entry, they are admissible. How about anything

25 that's attached to 'em? You're not agreeing as to those




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1 things?

2 MR. PERICAK: That's correct, your Honor. Any

3 document that's attached to them is -- we are offering

4 independently.

5 MR. LOWELL: May I say something --

6 MR. PERICAK: Not this moment, though.

7 MR. LOWELL: The Government attached certain

8 calendar pages to other documents.

9 THE COURT: All right.

10 MR. LOWELL: That's not the way it was kept and we

11 are just making clear for the record that that was their

12 choice to attach them, but it's not the way Miss Stackrow --

13 it would just be a calendar entry, not a letter, piece of

14 correspondence, and that's all I'm saying.

15 THE COURT: And therefore, the stipulation as to

16 the admissibility is only the calendar entries subject to

17 future rulings on anything that may be attached to the

18 calendars?

19 MR. LOWELL: Yes, sir, or past rulings.

20 THE COURT: All right. I'll admit them under

21 those circumstances as we've discussed them.

22 (Government Exhibits GA-2, GC-1, GF-20,

23 GH-4, GH-11, GI-5, GJ-4 page 4, GO-4,

24 GT-1 page 3, GT-10 page 3, GT-16 page 2,

25 GT-29, GU-9, GU-80, and GU-84 received.)




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1 MR. PERICAK: Your Honor, may I have a moment?

2 THE COURT: You may.


4 BY MR. PERICAK:

5 Q Miss Stackrow, are you familiar with the term

6 gatekeeper?

7 A Yes.

8 Q What does the term gatekeeper signify?

9 A The person who pretty much controls who the

10 Senator saw and/or talked with or whatever, with his

11 direction.

12 Q Was that a term that was in common usage in the

13 Legislature?

14 A Yes, it was.

15 Q Were you ever the gatekeeper for Senator Bruno?

16 A Yes.

17 Q For what period of time? I know you're bad with

18 dates. Were you his gatekeeper before he was Senator

19 Majority Leader?

20 A Yes. And for a period of time, probably maybe the

21 first ten years, that he was Majority Leader.

22 Q And who succeeded you as the gatekeeper?

23 A Amy Leitch.

24 Q Now, you mentioned that -- I forget the term you

25 used. You worked on Senator Bruno's personal business or




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1 private business, did you say?

2 A Yes, I did.

3 Q What did you do to assist Senator Bruno with his

4 personal or private business?

5 A I balanced his check books, I wrote all of his

6 checks, I kept track of his financial dealings, I prepared

7 information for his accountant to do his taxes.

8 Q All right. You said you did something with his

9 checks. Which accounts did you take care of for Senator

10 Bruno?

11 A I wrote checks out of his personal checkbook. I

12 balanced his wife's personal checkbook, I wrote checks out

13 of Capital Business Consultants and Capital Business -- or

14 in Business Consultants, I'm sorry, and Mountain View Farm.

15 Q Now, Business Consultants and Capital Business

16 Consultants, those were private businesses the Senator had?

17 A Yes.

18 Q And what is Mountain View Farm?

19 A That is his -- his farm. He bred thoroughbred

20 horses.

21 Q So that was another business he had?

22 A Yes, um-hum.

23 Q Did you take care of any other personal business

24 for Senator Bruno?

25 A I did a lot of his personal shopping. I did a lot




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1 of shopping for his wife or his family periodically over the

2 years.

3 Q What kind of shopping are we talking about?

4 A Christmas shopping, gifts for his family, gifts

5 for his wife.

6 Q Did you basically do all the shopping for those

7 things?

8 A Pretty much so, yes.

9 Q Now, you listed some accounts for us, did Senator

10 Bruno have any other accounts that you were aware of that

11 you were not involved with?

12 A No.

13 Q If you need to take a drink of water, there's --

14 A I am losing my voice.

15 Q I detected that.


17 BY MR. PERICAK:

18 Q Did Senator Bruno pay you for the work that you

19 did on his personal business and things you did for him

20 personally?

21 A No.

22 Q I want to focus first on these checking accounts,

23 the accounts that you talked about. Would you describe for

24 us in very generic and general terms what you did on a

25 regular basis, whether it be daily, weekly or monthly in




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1 connection with each of the checking accounts? I take it

2 there's a monthly statement?

3 A I would balance all of the check books. In one

4 morning, with the packet, when it came back in, he would

5 also include all of his mail from home, which would include

6 the bills that needed to be paid and I would write the

7 checks and pay the bills. He would sign the checks and we

8 would pay the bills.

9 Q Are we talking about, for example, his household

10 bills?

11 A His household bills, Mountain View Farm bills,

12 anything that had to do with the two businesses, business

13 consulting.

14 Q From time to time were there checks, income from

15 these businesses that he had?

16 A Yes.

17 Q How did you -- did you deposit the checks?

18 A I would endorse the checks and his driver would

19 deposit them in the bank.

20 Q How did you get your hands on the checks? How did

21 they come to you?

22 A They would come in the packet in the morning.

23 They would be in the mail from home.

24 Q Am I understanding this correctly that basically

25 he would take his mail from his house --




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1 A Yes.

2 Q -- and put it in the packet? Would you actually

3 open --

4 A Yes, I would.

5 Q And it was unopened mail?

6 A Um-hum.

7 Q And you would sort it?

8 A Um-hum.

9 Q And take care of all that for him?

10 A Yes.

11 Q Now, from time to time in connection with

12 businesses, what kinds of documents or materials came in the

13 mail?

14 A The checks.

15 Q In addition to the checks, did you see

16 correspondence or memos?

17 A I don't recall if they came in the mail. I don't

18 recall.

19 Q Did you do filing for Senator Bruno's personal

20 businesses?

21 A Yes.

22 Q What types of things did you maintain in the

23 files?

24 A In the business consulting files, there were

25 various contracts between he and the different entities.




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1 Some correspondence, but very little correspondence.

2 Q Okay?

3 A Beyond that, I don't think there was much of

4 anything.

5 Q Were there written agreements signed by Senator

6 Bruno and perhaps somebody else from another company?

7 A Yes.

8 Q Did you do any bookkeeping work for Senator Bruno

9 in addition to what you did in balancing the check book?

10 A Yes.

11 Q What kind of bookkeeping work did you do for him?

12 A When I first started to work for the Senator,

13 there was like no record of what his income or his spending

14 was and I felt that if I was going to work with the

15 accountant, I needed to keep track of various amounts that

16 he was spending on different items and things for the

17 accountant. So, I kept financial notebooks. And then at

18 the end of the calendar year, the accountant and I would go

19 through that and that's what she prepared -- or he prepared

20 income taxes from.

21 Q Now, you said you prepared notebooks. What did

22 the notebooks consist of?

23 A They're loose leaf notebooks. I kept track of

24 household expenses, the Mountain View Farm expenses and the

25 business expenses.




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1 Q And did you also keep track of any income that

2 came in?

3 A Yes, I did.

4 Q The incomes that Senator Bruno received -- I take

5 it he received a salary from his New York State Senate

6 position, is that right?

7 A Yes, he did.

8 Q Did that come in by check or direct deposit or

9 what?

10 A It came in by check to the office, the Legislative

11 Office Building, and then after -- no, I take that back. It

12 always came into the Legislative Office Building.

13 Q And did you deposit that check?

14 A I endorsed those checks and had his driver deposit

15 them.

16 Q All right. And into what account did you deposit

17 those or have those deposited by his driver?

18 A Those checks went into his personal checking

19 account.

20 Q And the -- what entities can you recall as you're

21 sitting here right now sending checks to Senator Bruno in

22 connection with his private business?

23 A The names of the companies --

24 Q Yes.

25 A -- that what you're asking me?




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1 Q Yes.

2 A McGinn, Smith. Sage Alerting. Jerry Abbruzzese's

3 company. I'm not quite sure. They both had the names of

4 communications in them. I don't know what they were

5 completely. Roadway Construction, that was BB Gardner. Len

6 Fassler had several companies and I don't recall each

7 individual name right now, but there were several different

8 companies that Len Fassler was involved in.

9 Q And into what account or accounts did you deposit

10 or did you instruct the driver to deposit those checks?

11 A Before the Business Consultants' checking account

12 was opened, those checks would have been deposited in his

13 personal checking account. Once Business Consultants was

14 opened, they went into that account.

15 Q And then was there a subsequent checking account

16 that was opened under a different name than Business

17 Consultants?

18 A Yes. Capital Business Consultants.

19 Q And after Capital Business Consultants' checking

20 account opened, were those checks all deposited into that

21 account?

22 A Yes, they were.

23 Q You mentioned some names, Mr. Abbruzzese, how did

24 his checks arrive?

25 A In the mail.




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1 Q And Mr. Ball, how did the checks from his

2 companies arrive?

3 A In the mail.

4 Q And Mr. Fassler, how did the checks from his

5 companies arrive?

6 A In the mail.

7 Q Do you also remember a company called Wright,

8 Wright Investors?

9 A Yes.

10 Q Do you remember receiving checks from Wright

11 Investors?

12 A Yes.

13 Q How did those arrive?

14 A Originally, they came in the mail and then we had

15 them direct deposited.

16 Q I won't ask you when.

17 A Thank you.

18 Q Now, when did you compile the notebooks? Did you

19 do that at the end of the year or what period of time? Were

20 you doing them constantly over time?

21 A I would usually start compiling them in November,

22 December, January. Once the calendar year was over, I

23 completed them.

24 Q So you would go through the checking account

25 statements and you would make all your lists from the




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1 checking accounts, is that right?

2 A Yes, um-hum.

3 Q And then did you receive tax documents, W-2s and

4 1099s?

5 A Yes.

6 Q And of course that would be in January and

7 February, is that right?

8 A Yes.

9 Q And what would you do with those documents?

10 A They would go into my tax files so that I would

11 then give them to the accountant.

12 Q When you went to see the accountant, did you

13 actually prepare any kind of a draft tax return before you

14 went to see him?

15 A No.

16 Q At what point in the year did you go to see the

17 accountant, typically?

18 A I would go once in early December to get an

19 estimate of what he was going to have to pay in April, that

20 would be an estimate. And then I would go back again in

21 February, early March, with everything, with the exception

22 of one company that never sent their documentation until

23 April.

24 Q Which one was that?

25 A It was -- it was a building that he owned stock in




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1 or something that was a K-Mart or a Wal-Mart building. It

2 was long before I worked for him.

3 Q Okay.

4 A I can't remember the name at the moment.

5 Q Did McGinn, Smith used to send you tax

6 documentation for Senator Bruno?

7 A Not every year.

8 Q Now, you said you would go see the accountant in

9 early December?

10 A Um-hum.

11 Q What would you bring to the accountant to enable

12 an estimate to be made of the anticipated taxes?

13 A Basically, his income for the year, any major

14 expenses that really stood out at that point, and just asked

15 for advice as to whether, you know, if he had stocks, should

16 he sell stocks, would it help, you know, alleviate the tax

17 burden he may have.

18 Q How did you -- you didn't have the 1099s in early

19 December --

20 A No.

21 Q -- or W-2s, so how did you estimate what the

22 income was?

23 A From my records.

24 Q You would make a record of what, deposits?

25 A Um-hum.




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1 Q Now, did you consult with Senator Bruno in

2 connection with showing him your notebooks and your records

3 prior to going to see the accountant in December?

4 A We would have brief conversations, but I don't

5 believe Senator Bruno ever saw my notebooks or records.

6 Q All right. And how about later on in the year,

7 when you would go to see the accountant -- when did you say,

8 in March or --

9 A March, yeah, usually the end of February, March,

10 um-hum.

11 Q Did you consult with Senator Bruno prior to going

12 to see the accountant in late February, early March?

13 A To the point that I would tell him that I was

14 going.

15 Q How about on the substance of it, did you consult

16 with him, talk to him about any issues that would arise?

17 A Not unless I had a question or he, you know, if he

18 instructed me to sell stocks or something. But no.

19 Q All right. Did anyone besides yourself have any

20 responsibility for keeping track of Senator Bruno's income

21 or expenses in connection with either his personal affairs

22 or his business affairs?

23 A No.

24 Q Did you usually get the tax information to the

25 accountants prior to April 15th?




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1 A Yes, I did.

2 Q Are you familiar with Senator Bruno's financial

3 disclosure forms?

4 A Yes.

5 Q Was that one of your responsibilities, to type

6 those forms?

7 A Yes, it was.

8 Q When did you first become involved in typing

9 Senator Bruno's financial disclosure forms?

10 A Whenever the State decided we had to do it. I

11 don't remember the date, but it was very early on.

12 Q All right. Now, did you use a computer?

13 A No, I did not.

14 Q You were a "from scratch typer"?

15 A Yes, I was. And still am.

16 Q So every year that you prepared those forms, you

17 typed them up, you typed them from scratch?

18 A Yes, I did.

19 Q All right. What did you use for the information

20 to fill in -- forget the first year, but after the first

21 year, what did you use to start your form?

22 A My records from what I had given the accountant.

23 Q Well, would you first start with what you had put

24 on the form the prior year?

25 A Yes, I would.




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1 Q And then you would look, what, for changes or

2 additions?

3 A For changes, additions, um-hum.

4 Q When did you start the process -- in relation to

5 going to see the accountant for the taxes, when did you

6 start the process of filling in the financial disclosure

7 forms?

8 A When I got my information, my notebooks back from

9 the accountant, which would have been after, after

10 April 15th. We received the financial disclosure forms from

11 the State about April 15th and we had a month to put them

12 together.

13 Q All right. And did you review completed forms

14 with Senator Bruno prior to actually filing them?

15 A Yes.

16 Q Now, I want to focus before Senator Bruno became

17 Majority Leader and after he became Majority Leader. Before

18 Senator Bruno became Majority Leader, would you tell us or

19 describe for the jurors the process by which you went about

20 filling in information on those financial disclosure forms?

21 A I would take the one from the previous year and go

22 through it and then compare that to my current year's

23 financial notebook to see what changes had been made, if he

24 had bought or sold stock, if he had bought or sold property.

25 And then, consequently, I would do a draft and meet with the




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1 Senate attorneys to go through it.

2 Q All right. Prior to the time that Senator Bruno

3 became Majority Leader, which Senate attorney or attorneys

4 did you meet with?

5 A Tim Collins and Ken Riddett. And then it was Ken

6 Riddett and Frank Gluchowski.

7 Q Would you meet with Tim Collins and Ken Riddett

8 together?

9 A You're asking me to remember a long time ago,

10 but --

11 Q Just the best of your memory, ma'am.

12 A Yes.

13 Q You never met with Tim Collins alone?

14 A No, I would. Tim and I were in the same office,

15 so, you know, it was easy. Ken Riddett was in another

16 office.

17 Q And then subsequently, you met with Ken Riddett

18 and Frank Gluchowski?

19 A Yes.

20 Q And when did Mr. Gluchowski -- I am not asking for

21 the year, but do you remember at what point in time he

22 joined the staff, was it before or after Senator Bruno

23 became Majority Leader?

24 A I can tell you that I did not know Frank until

25 after the Senator became Majority Leader, but I don't know




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1 when he joined the staff.

2 Q So the first time you met with him was after

3 Senator Bruno became Majority Leader, is that correct?

4 A Yes.

5 Q Now, do you remember a point in time when

6 Mr. Collins became a judge?

7 A Yes.

8 Q Did you -- up until the point in time he became a

9 judge and left the office, did you meet with him every year

10 on these annual statements of financial disclosure?

11 A Yes.


13 BY MR. PERICAK:

14 Q Miss Stackrow, I am gonna show you what's been

15 marked as Government Exhibit --


17 MR. PERICAK: Your Honor, at this time, the

18 Government moves the admission of GB-4 through 22.

19 THE COURT: B, as in boy?

20 MR. PERICAK: B, as in boy.

21 THE COURT: Or bravo.

22 MR. PERICAK: Or bravo.

23 MR. LOWELL: And there's no objection, Judge.

24 THE COURT: Thank you. Admitted.

25 (Government Exhibits GB-4 through GB-22




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1 received.)

2 BY MR. PERICAK:


4 admitted as GB-4, it's a two-page document. And of course,

5 that's obviously a photocopy, but can you tell us what that

6 is?

7 A These are pages from my financial notebooks from

8 1992, listing expenses for Business Consultants and, of

9 course, for Business Consultants.

10 MR. PERICAK: Ron, could we get a full-page view?

11 BY MR. PERICAK:

12 Q So the first page has handwriting, it says

13 Business Consultants at the top?

14 A Yes.

15 Q Whose handwriting is that?

16 A That's my handwriting.

17 Q How about the year 1992, whose handwriting is

18 that?

19 A That is my handwriting.

20 Q And how about all the rest of the entries on this

21 first page of GB-4, whose handwriting?

22 A They're my handwriting, it's my handwriting.

23 Q And if we could turn to the second page, whose

24 handwriting is that?

25 A My handwriting.




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1 Q Now, how voluminous were your notebooks? This is

2 just two pages from 1992. How voluminous was it?

3 A Make an inch to an inch-and-a-half thick.

4 Q Was each category tabbed?

5 A Yes.

6 Q All right. Let's go back to the first page,

7 please. And if we could focus in on the top part of the

8 page, do you see three entries there, the first one says

9 3/4, Best Resume and Marketing Services, resume, a hundred

10 seventy-four. I assume that's dollars, is that right?

11 A Yes.

12 Q 3/11, Sky Club, Health -- what does that say?

13 A Air.

14 Q Air Group. And the third entry, 8/31, and it's

15 abbreviated, is that the abbreviation for the Rensselaer

16 County Clerk?

17 A Yes, it is.

18 Q Says filing fee for a d/b/a, $29?

19 A Yes.

20 Q Okay. What's the d/b/a that's referred to there,

21 do you know?

22 A It was when he opened his checking account for

23 Business Consultants.


25 MR. PERICAK: Ron, could you put GD-2 up on the




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1 screen, please?

2 BY MR. PERICAK:

3 Q Miss Stackrow, I am gonna hand you a copy of this,

4 it may be difficult to read up on the screen (indicating).

5 In fact, is that document the certificate that you indicate

6 on the other exhibits you paid $29 for in connection with

7 the filing fee?

8 A Yes.

9 Q And the date stamp on this document, on GD-2, is

10 August 31, do you see that, 1992?

11 A Yes.

12 Q All right. And of course, let's go back to GB-4,

13 Ron, that's the date that you show that you paid the filing

14 fees, do you see that?

15 A Yes.

16 Q Okay. What, if anything, did Senator Bruno tell

17 you was the purpose of registering this entity?

18 A I don't remember.

19 MR. PERICAK: And can we go back to GD-2, Ron?

20 Q If you look at the top, the heading of

21 "certificate."

22 A Yes.

23 Q It says "Certificate of individual doing business

24 under an assumed name." Do you recall Senator Bruno

25 explaining to you why he wanted to do business under an




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1 that office furniture moved?


3 Q Did Senator Bruno have an office somewhere?

4 A Yes.

5 Q Where?

6 A I don't -- I don't remember that. I'm sorry, I

7 don't.

8 Q Okay. All we can ask you to do is your best.

9 Did -- do you remember a location called The

10 Loudon Arms?

11 A Yes.

12 Q Did Senator Bruno have an office there?

13 A Yes, he did.

14 Q Okay. What was The Loudon Arms?

15 A It's an apartment complex in Menands.

16 Q Was it an office building?

17 A No.

18 Q I am gonna show you what's been marked as GB-5.

19 Can you tell us what GB-5 is?

20 A It's a page out of my financial notebook.

21 Q I'm sorry, it's a four-page document, so I would

22 ask you just to page through the four pages.

23 A (Witness complies.)

24 Q So, do you recognize the four pages?

25 A Yes.




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1 Q What are they?

2 A They're pages from my financial notebook. The

3 first page is checks that I wrote for Business Consultants'

4 checking account, transferring money to his personal

5 checking account.

6 Q All right. And let's take a look at -- we'll go

7 to the third page. And at the top, it says Business

8 Consultants' income, do you see that?

9 A Yes.

10 Q And this is for 1993?

11 A Yes.

12 Q And I take it is that all your handwriting on this

13 page?

14 A Yes, it is.

15 Q Would you take a look at the whole document and

16 tell us whether or not everything is in your handwriting?

17 A Yes, everything is in my handwriting.

18 Q So back to the third page, Business Consultants'

19 income, what does income signify?

20 A Those were the checks that he got from various

21 companies.

22 Q At what point in the year did you record this

23 information? In other words, did you record it as it came

24 in or did you do it all at one time?

25 A I usually did it all at one time, over a period of




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1 maybe two to three weeks I would do it all.

2 Q All right. And what would you consult in order to

3 fill in this information about the checks?

4 A Check book registers, bank statements.

5 Q And the different entities there, it says Mitel,

6 Web Converting, Sage Alerting, Mitel again, McGinn, Smith.

7 What were all those companies?

8 A Those were companies the Senator did consulting

9 work for.

10 Q And if you would turn to the fourth page, please,

11 and again the heading there is Business Consultants' income,

12 and it picks up with September and October, do you see that?

13 A Yes.

14 Q And down at the bottom, you have an entry. What

15 does that signify at the bottom? It starts with Sage, ten

16 times 4,000, and continues, McGinn, Web Converting and

17 Mitel. What do those signify?

18 A Those would be the total income for each of those

19 companies for that year.


21 marked as Government Exhibit GB-3. What is GB-3?


23 MR. LOWELL: No objection.

24 THE COURT: He's now forgiven you, go ahead. GB-3

25 is admitted.




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1 (Government Exhibit GB-3 received.)

2 THE COURT: Note the technician saved ya.

3 (Laughter.)

4 BY MR. PERICAK:

5 Q Miss Stackrow, what is Exhibit GB-3?

6 A It looks like it's a copy of a bank statement.

7 Q All right. Do you see it says, in the heading,

8 Joseph Bruno, Business Consultants, Inc?

9 A Yes.

10 Q And the address is Legislative Office Building?

11 A Yes.

12 Q Did these statements come to you at the

13 Legislative Office Building every month?

14 A Yes.

15 Q Who opened this account in the name Business

16 Consultants, Inc?


18 Q And specifically, did you have a role in opening

19 it?

20 A I could have.

21 Q And is this the account into which the income, the

22 checks, were deposited from the date -- from the point in

23 time when this account was opened up until Capital Business

24 Consulting was opened?

25 A Yes.




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1 Q All right. Let's go back to Exhibit GB-5, please.

2 And I want to go to the fourth page. And I want to focus on

3 the four entries at the bottom -- I'm sorry, Ron -- there

4 you go.

5 The first one, as we said, was Sage. The

6 second one says McGinn, 43,000 - w-2. What did the W-2 next

7 to McGinn signify?

8 A That I would have gotten a W-2 from McGinn.

9 Q All right. I'd like to show you now what's been

10 marked as Government Exhibit GB-19. And that's

11 paper-clipped together, four items paper-clipped together,

12 do you see that? And just starting with the first page, do

13 you recognize the handwriting on first page?

14 A Yes.

15 Q Whose handwriting do you recognize?

16 A The very top where it says Web Converting and Sage

17 is my handwriting. The next two, Mitel and Upstate Imaging,

18 I believe that's Lou DeChants', his accountant's

19 handwriting. "Where did this come from" is my handwriting.

20 Q And how about the numbers? That's often harder to

21 tell.

22 A I don't know.

23 Q Miss Stackrow, would you please turn to the second

24 page of the exhibit? Does your second page -- is it a 1099

25 from Mitel?




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1 A Yes, it is.

2 Q All right. And do you see the figure

3 nonemployer --

4 MR. PERICAK: I'm sorry, can you blow up the

5 6666.66, Ron?

6 Q Nonemployee compensation, you see that?

7 A Yes.

8 Q And would you look back now to the first page --

9 can we go side by side, Ron -- does that almost correspond

10 to the figure on the note?

11 A Yes.

12 Q And would you look at the third page, we are gonna

13 do the same thing with the Upstate Imaging Associates 1099.

14 And does the hundred exactly correspond to the number on the

15 note?

16 A Yes.

17 Q And finally, would you look at the third page of

18 the exhibit -- sorry, the fourth page of the exhibit, what

19 is that fourth page of the exhibit?

20 A The top part is the memo section of a check, the

21 check was attached to.

22 Q Whose handwriting is on there?

23 A 1/5/93 and then the 1,250, that is my handwriting.

24 The total, fourteen-o-six two-fifty, that is Lou DeChants'

25 handwriting. The balance owed handwriting, I do not know




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1 whose that is.

2 Q All right. And if we go side by side with that

3 figure -- Ron -- fourteen-o-sixty-two-fifty with the note on

4 page 1, again does that appear to be almost the figure

5 that's on page 1?

6 A Yes.

7 Q Did Mr. DeChants have a habit of rounding off?

8 A Yes.

9 Q Okay. And going back to page 4, there's a note in

10 connection with the 1992 1099 for Web Converting. Can you

11 read that note?

12 A "Out of business March 1993, did not receive

13 1099."

14 Q What was -- what were you explaining there?

15 A That the company went out of business and that was

16 pretty much it, that they went out of business.

17 Q So in other words, you're just explaining to

18 Mr. DeChants why your figure is not supported by a 1099?

19 A Um-hum, yes.

20 Q Now, go back again to Mitel.

21 A The 1099?

22 Q The 1099 for Mitel, on the second page of the

23 exhibit. That indicates Mitel Telecommunications, Inc.,

24 15,000, Commerce Parkway, Mount Laurel, New Jersey. Do you

25 know what was at that address?




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1 A No, I do not.

2 Q Do you know where Mitel was located when Senator

3 Bruno worked for them?

4 A My recollection, Mitel is a Canadian corporation.

5 Probably had offices in various parts of the United States.

6 I don't know that.

7 Q Well, did they have an office in Albany, if you

8 remember?

9 A Yes, they did.

10 Q Do you remember where that was?

11 A British American Plaza.

12 Q Over by the airport?

13 A Yes.

14 Q Did Senator Bruno, from time to time, go to that

15 office?

16 A Yes, he did.

17 Q Now, I'd like ya to refer to the fourth page of

18 GB-5, versus the 1099 on GB-19, the Mitel.

19 MR. PERICAK: Can we go side by side, Ron? I

20 guess that's fine. And Ron, can you blow up the four lines

21 of handwriting at the bottom?

22 Q Now, on your record, you've indicated Mitel and

23 you have a figure of 13,332?

24 A Yes.

25 Q And a 1099 indicates how much?




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1 A $6,666.66.

2 Q All right. Now, if we look again at the first

3 page of GB-19, is that the reason for the question mark?

4 A I don't know.

5 Q All right. But, I take it from your records, on

6 GB-19, where you indicate you deposited four checks from

7 Mitel, that you confirmed that you, in fact, got that much

8 from -- or that Senator Bruno received that much income from

9 Mitel, is that right?

10 A Yes.

11 Q All right. Did you discuss with Senator Bruno the

12 discrepancy between your records for receiving $13,000 from

13 Mitel and the 1099 from Mitel which was only 6,667?


15 Q All right. What was your practice, as far as

16 reviewing information with Senator Bruno? I take it if

17 everything checked out, you didn't bother with it, is that

18 right?

19 A No. It was only if I had a question about

20 something, I would talk to him about it, or he questioned

21 something, then we would talk about it.

22 Q All right. And as you said here right now, that

23 was a long time ago, you don't remember whether you brought

24 this discrepancy to his attention?

25 A Can you remember things 16 or 17 years ago?




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1 Q I have a hard time remembering what's in evidence,

2 so...

3 MR. PERICAK: Your Honor, if this is a convenient

4 time to break, Mr. Lowell has provided us with something

5 that I need to discuss with Miss Coombe?

6 THE COURT: Well, it's a little early, but that's

7 okay. Let's take a break until twenty of, ladies and

8 gentlemen. That's 22 minutes.

9 (Short recess taken at 10:17 AM.)

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Documents

USA v. Bruno 16 Nov 2009 Stackrow Pt 1